The Greater Boston Food Bank Mobilizes Eastern Massachusetts Residents to Take Action During Hunger Action Month
Media Contact:
Gary Roy
press@gbfb.org
617-209-9147
The Greater Boston Food Bank Mobilizes Eastern Massachusetts Residents to Take Action During Hunger Action Month
Whole Foods Market Launches Month-Long Click-to-Give Campaign in September
BOSTON – August 27, 2020 – The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) today announced it will highlight the surge of food insecurity in Eastern Massachusetts due to the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the month of September in observance of Hunger Action Month. As the largest hunger-relief organization in New England, GBFB aims to raise awareness and funds by mobilizing people to take action to help our neighbors in need during the month-long campaign.
Both Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh have once again issued proclamations declaring September as Hunger Action Month in the state of Massachusetts and Thursday, September 10 as Hunger Action Day in the City of Boston, respectively. The public is encouraged to get involved to support GBFB’s mission to end hunger here in Eastern Massachusetts through different ways including:
EVERY ACTION COUNTS DURING HUNGER ACTION MONTH
On Sept. 1, in partnership with Feeding America®, GBFB will launch a month-long social media campaign asking participants to take action to end hunger. The public is encouraged to make a difference every day by taking actions like volunteering, donating and sharing information about hunger on social media with the following hashtags and tags: #HungerActionMonth, #EndHungerHere, @gr8BosFoodBank, @FeedingAmerica.
WHOLE FOODS MARKET CLICK-TO-GIVE CAMPAIGN
Throughout the month of September, Whole Foods Market will help provide even more healthy meals to our neighbors in need here in Eastern Massachusetts. They are encouraging everybody to visit GBFB.org/Click2Give during Hunger Action Month, and for every ‘click’ Whole Foods Market will donate 45 healthy meals. It’s a simple and free way to give back during Hunger Action Month.
REGISTER TO VOTE & MAKE HUNGER AN ELECTORAL ISSUE
GBFB is encouraging supporters to make hunger an electoral issue by registering to vote and casting a ballot for the state primary on September 1st and the general election on November 3rd. Link out to MA Secretary of State page.
FAIR & ACCURATE CENSUS 2020
A fair and accurate census is critical to the fight to end hunger. The census determines how the federal government allocates representation in Congress and federal funding to states, including funding for key nutrition programs like SNAP and WIC. GBFB’s goal is to make sure everyone is counted, especially the people we serve who are often at risk of being undercounted. We’re asking people to fill out their census forms before the deadline of September 31st.
HUNGER ACTION DAY – SEPTEMBER 10
- BOSTON TURNS ORANGE FOR HUNGER ACTION DAY
- On Hunger Action Day, September 10, local Boston landmarks including the Prudential Center, Boston City Hall, Boston Harbor Hotel, The Lennox Hotel, Rose Kennedy Greenway, Museum of Science and many more will be lit up the color orange—the symbolic color of hunger.
- WCVB HUNGER ACTION DAY TELEVENT
- ALL-DAY ON-AIR FUNDRAISER TO RAISE AWARENESS AND FUNDS FOR HUNGER-RELIEF
- Tune into WCVB Channel 5 for an all-day “televent” to raise awareness and funds for The Greater Boston Food Bank on Hunger Action Day. There will be feature stories and interviews with food bank agency partners that are on the front lines serving our neighbors in need. For more information, reach out to press@gbfb.org.
“This marks the thirteenth year of Hunger Action Month–a nationwide effort asking people to take on hunger in their communities in whatever way they can,” said Catherine D’Amato, president and CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank. “In my 25 years at GBFB, there has never been a more important time to highlight the impact of food insecurity on our community. An estimated 650,000 people in Eastern Massachusetts are projected to be food insecure in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This September, we are asking people to take some kind of action, one helping at a time, towards providing hunger-relief to those in need.”
Overall, the food insecurity rate in Massachusetts has increased 53%, so that one in seven people are expected not to have access to enough food for three healthy meals a day. One in five children in Massachusetts now live in food-insecure households, an even more dramatic increase of 81% over pre-COVID-19 food insecurity levels.
“With so many critical policy changes around economic relief and nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and school meals being considered by Congress and the administration,” said GBFB Director of Public Affairs Catherine Drennan. “September is the perfect time to take action in support of the thousands of people across our state that face hunger, some for the very first time. We’re calling on Congress and the administration to pass the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation, including investments and policies that boost our federal nutrition programs and ensure consistent access to school meals.”
Hunger Action Month is an annual national awareness campaign by Feeding America and its network of 200 food banks across the country. For more information about Hunger Action Month, participating events, how to advocate for hunger policies and the social media campaign, please visit gbfb.org/hungeractionmonth.
About The Greater Boston Food Bank
The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) is the largest hunger-relief organization in New England and among the largest food banks in the country. GBFB will provide the equivalent of over 83 million healthy meals this year distributed through its network of nearly 600 dedicated food distribution partners and programs in the 190 cities and towns across Eastern Massachusetts. A member of Feeding America, the nation’s food bank network, GBFB’s mission is to end hunger here and it’s committed to providing at least three healthy meals a day to everyone in need. For more information, visit us at GBFB.org, follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@gr8bosfoodbank) and Instagram, or call us at 617.427.5200.