Supporting grassroots sustainable food production and training in 17 countries , connecting 2.4 million hungry Americans with nutritious meals and scoring a 4-star Charity Navigator rating are just a

Supporting grassroots sustainable food production and training in 17 countries , connecting 2.4 million hungry Americans with nutritious meals and scoring a 4-star Charity Navigator rating are just a few of WhyHunger’s many impressive accomplishments for 2013. The organization has been a shining example of advocacy in the fight against hunger and poverty, including:

• Connections to Nutritious Food: WhyHunger helped more than 223,491 hungry Americans find emergency food and connect to federal nutrition programs through a comprehensive online database and the National Hunger Hotline (1-866-3-HUNGRY). WhyHunger and partners have helped the USDA to connect 2.2 million children in need with nutritious food this summer.

• Imagine There’s No Hunger: In 2013, WhyHunger provided $275,000 in grants to support sustainable food production and training to 21 community-based organizations in 17 countries through the “Imagine There’s No Hunger” program, a partnership with Hard Rock International and Yoko Ono Lennon.  To date, 7.2 million nutritious meals have been shared with over 8,800 families in 22 countries.

• Investing in Communities: Provided direct financial support and resource sharing, training, technical assistance and an on-going partnership to 12 grassroots organizations, leading to increased food security and sustainable food systems through youth leadership, environmental justice, farmworker rights, microenterprise and healthy food access in the US. WhyHunger began working with six organizations on an 18-month facilitated peer-mentorship and knowledge sharing program.

• Artists in Action: In 2013, Artists Against Hunger & Poverty members raised $71,000 to ensure access to nutritious food. Chef Aarón Sánchez became WhyHunger’s first ever Chef Ambassador, and a new campaign Homemade Jams: 100 House Concerts to End Hunger launched.

• Four Star Rating: WhyHunger is recognized for the third consecutive year among the highest performing nonprofits for excellence in fiscal management, accountability and transparency from America’s leading independent charity evaluator, Charity Navigator.

• Knowledge Exchange & Collective Action :  WhyHunger played a key role in planning three large scale gatherings for key players in the food justice movement, yielding shared knowledge and collective action to ending hunger. WhyHunger also organized leaders to begin the shift to establishing a food banking system in the US that improves health outcomes in America by providing healthy food to their low-income communities while rebuilding regional food and farm economies.

• Hungerthon: Artists, celebrities and the radio community rallied for this end of year holiday fundraiser and public outreach campaign raising more than $710,000 to ensure access to nutritious food and an end to hunger in America. Hungerthon engaged listeners through more than a dozen radio stations including all the CBS Radio stations in NYC and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. 

• Building Food Justice:  In the migration corridor of New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, WhyHunger collaborated with local partners to plan two new food production training programs that will build healthy futures for 4,000 vulnerable children living in 5 low-income border communities, while building local leadership capacity amongst 120 local migrant women and families.

• Healthy Meals: Through a partnership with healthy food company, Luvo, WhyHunger delivered over 51,000 nutritious meals to grassroots partners in the U.S. serving America’s hungry.  WhyHunger also hosted a vibrant day long community event at St. James Food Pantry in Newark, NJ in June where WhyHunger and Luvo distributed more than 25,000 meals to people in need.