With Thanksgiving just around the corner, November is a great time to think about ways to improve food distribution so more families can enjoy a nutritious meal. Several chapters in the network have developed year-round approaches to help solve this important issue. Here’s what you can do to innovate beyond the typical Thanksgiving food drive.
Address two issues at once
Create a plan to redirect extra food from your cafeteria to an organization that could use it. For example, the Microsoft Professional chapter set up a partnership between Microsoft facilities and a local food pantry. Not only does such a program ensure year-round donations to the hungry, but it also makes cafes, conference centers, and catered lunches less wasteful.
Spread your impact worldwide
Net Impact UNC Kenan-Flagler held an event through Stop Hunger Now to package non-perishable meals and assemble water filters that will be distributed to relief programs around the world. Look into ways your chapter can join the fight to address hunger on an international scale!
Get outside
Net Impact Atlanta coordinated with Concrete Jungle to pick fruit and nuts from untended trees around the city, then donated the harvest to organizations serving Atlanta’s hungry. Put your hands to work by gleaning fields in your area or helping at a farm that donates its produce; there are lots of organizations dedicated to tapping into and distributing food from neglected sources.
Educate yourself
Dedicate an evening to researching food scarcity and brainstorming ways your chapter can contribute to the solution. The HEC Paris School of Management chapter brought Thought for Food to campus for a film screening and panel discussion about tackling the challenge of feeding 9 billion people worldwide. Try something similar with your chapter.
Get inspired, then create your own plan!
To learn about access to healthy food, the Philadelphia Professional chapter toured an innovative supermarket whose services include nutrition education, affordable financial services, assistance applying for public benefits, and an in-store health clinic as resources in a former “food desert” community. A few months later, they took action and volunteered with local hunger relief organization Philabundance.
Find your own source of inspiration, then plan a project for your chapter.
