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Welcome to Hunger Action Month!

A Target Hunger staff member and client after shopping the Mobile Pantry.

Today is September 1^st, which officially marks the start of Hunger Action Month! We have been counting down the days for this month-long campaign to raise awareness on food insecurity and hunger in the United States. This month is also an opportunity to promote all of the different ways individuals and organizations can get involved to fight food insecurity. We always say we couldn’t do the work without the dedication of our volunteers and donors, and we mean it! The more we can raise awareness and promote involvement in the issue, the more we can do for the community. Hunger Action Month was started by Feeding America, and is now recognized by food banks and pantries across the country. We are happy to be a part of the fight and share how you can get involved.  

Volunteers weeding a garden bed at our Goffney Garden location.

So, how do you get involved? We have volunteering opportunities at our gardens and our warehouse all month long! Get your hands dirty by helping us weed, harvest, and plant at our Shotwell or Goffney Garden, or come to thewarehouse and help us repackage dry goods and pack pantry boxes. You can also sign up for a CANnecting fundraiser, either virtually or in-person! In-person drives you can collect canned goods and staples to go into pantry boxes, as well as monetary donations. Looking for other ways to get involved or raise awareness? Download our Hunger Action Month Calendar! This calendar features 30 ways to make a difference this month – join us!

Monthly Donations Make a Difference

 Another simple but incredibly effective way you can help in the fight against food

 insecurity is by signing up as a monthly donor – join The Orange Club at Target Hunger! Becoming a recurring monthly donor is great for so many reasons, but here are just a few:

1. Convenience. You can set-up a recurring donation that happens automatically each month, so you don’t even have to think about it. Choose your amount and know that every month you are making a difference.
2. Consistency. It provides a consistent income for Target Hunger which allows us to plan long-term and create more life-changing outcomes. Knowing that we have a certain amount coming in monthly makes a big difference in how we can plan for the year. 
3. Small Donations, Big Impact. Regular, smaller donations often add up over time to a greater total contribution that one-time, larger donations. $20 a month may not seem like a big deal but donating monthly for 5 years will add up to $1,200! You will provide nearly 50 families with almost a week’s supply of food.
4. Stay Connected & See Impact. Giving monthly means you will also be more in-
   

   A client picks produce from the Mobile Pantry as part of her shopping for the day.

   tune with what is happening at Target Hunger. Over time, you’ll be able to see the impact your monthly donations will make.

Plus, The Orange Club members will receive a few special perks throughout the year, including special volunteer events and Target Hunger swag! If you sign-up during the month of September, we have a special gift to send to you. Our goal is to have 100 monthly donors by the end of September. If 100 people donate $20 a month, we can feed 1,000 families a year. You can sign-up here to join The Orange Club and make an impact with your monthly donation.

Responding to Community Needs

Our Mobile Pantry set up for the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Magnolia Multi-Service Center.

Target Hunger’s pantry program operates at five locations including churches and multi-service centers across the nine zip-codes we serve. As a United Way agency, Target Hunger distributed more than 2 million meals to nearly 31,000individuals in 2020. We are grateful to these partners for allowing us the space to serve the community – without them it would be difficult to assist as many as we do. The central locations of these sites have allowed us to become a reliable resource in the communities that need it most.

However, we recognize that there are some neighborhoods where we don’t have brick-and-mortar sites that need those resources too and that families need these locations to be convenient to where they live or work. The solution was to add a pantry on wheels or a Mobile Food Pantry to our fleet!

Guests had the opportunity to tour the pantry before the ceremony began.

Through a $426,000 grant from the Qatar Harvey Fund, we added the Mobile Food Pantry to our fleet in addition to making major enhancements to our warehouse including building a repackage room, and adding a walk-in refrigerator, walk-in freezer, and generator.

The Mobile Food Pantry, a climate-controlled walk-though grocery store, will allow Target Hunger to expand its service and deliver food closer to where clients reside. Families located in the Fifth Ward and the northeast/east neighborhoods of East Houston, Magnolia Park, and Pleasantville will be able to shop for their groceries and go home with about 40 pounds of fresh food and non-perishables.

Chris Bugbee, President & CEO, OneStar; Sandra Wicoff, CEO Target Hunger; includes Fatema Al-Baker, Director of Public Diplomacy Outreach; Samuel J. Louis, Target Hunger Board Member, Partner – Holland & Knight, LLP

Wheels on the Road

Due to the pandemic, the implementation of this new resource had been delayed for months. Finally, on Wednesday, August 25^th, we hosted the official Ribbon Cutting ceremony. We held the event at the Magnolia Multi-Service Center in the heart of the Greater East End neighborhood.

Our Board Members and staff excitedly welcomed guests, including Fatema Al-Baker, the Director of Public Diplomacy Outreach for the Embassy of the State of Qatar and Chris Bugbee, President & CEO of OneStar. Guests had the opportunity to take a tour of the Mobile Pantry and have the shopping experience that our clients will enjoy. We then heard from Board Member Sam Louis, Mr. Bugbee, Ms. Al-Baker, and our CEO Sandra Wicoff.

OneStar President & CEO Chris Bugbee said: “The mobile pantry not only addresses the long-term and ongoing effects of Hurricane Harvey, but also builds the resilience of the Houston community to face the realities of 2021 and the challenges that lie ahead. We are proud to partner with Target Hunger and the Qatar Harvey Fund through our Rebuild Texas Fund on this innovative solution to food insecurity.”

A Target Hunger client shops the pantry for the first time.

Finally, the ribbon was cut, and our Mobile Pantry was ready for action. A few of Target Hunger’s current clients attended and had the first opportunity to shop the pantry, including Nancy. When asked about her experience, Nancy said simply, “It’s good to have, really really good.”

We are thrilled to finally have wheels on the road and to be able to serve the community with this new resource. Once in full rotation, the Mobile Food Pantry will provide groceries to 600 families a month. It is designed to be a Choice Pantry where shoppers can select from a range of products to meet their families dietary and cultural preferences. We hope that this pantry serves the community well and with dignity!