Teams in our Food Security Project (FSP) reported 35 events in November, serving 13,802 individual beneficiaries and giving out 5,756 meals!

 Additional GO Humanity Service Teams (GO Teams) held 12 more service events.

New Teams

We added three new teams in November!

• Mouvement de la Jeunesse pour la Liberte de la Pensee en Haiti (MOJELIPH) – In 2021, MOJELIPH was instrumental during an earthquake, working with GO Humanity to distribute water, food, tents, clothing, and other supplies to thousands of impacted Haitians. Now they’re helping families who urgently lack food, water, electricity, and beds.

• SociologyEats!, a part of Texas A&M University that distributes funds directly to college students in need, no questions asked. They kicked off their first month giving out $1,400 to students requesting help with food and living costs.

• Eagle’s View Humanist Primary School in Buwenge, Uganda, which runs a garden that feeds kids in the school as well as elderly people in the community.

Team of the Month

Central Florida Freethought Community (CFFC)

CFFC held a STEAM toy drive and potluck buffet, collecting presents for kids in need that teach science, technology, engineering, art, and math! Over 50 people attended. They also removed debris at six-acre Kewanee Park!

Photo of the Month

Humanists of Polk County

Our favorite pic this month comes from this Florida team’s Weekends Without Hunger program, where volunteers packed food supplies for students experiencing food insecurity!

They also met to clean up their adopted roadway in Auburndale!

 

Atheists United

This team held their monthly giveaway in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown. They gave out 4,800 pounds of food in 34-pounds kits, which also included menstrual products for those who needed them. Overall they helped 144 households consisting of 501 people.

 

Orlando Oasis

This ridiculously busy team had 13 events in November! This consisted of:

• Meeting four times to buy 275 meals’ worth of produce and delivering it to shelters
• Meeting four times for their Produce Rescue for Families program, saving 80 pounds of surplus food from landfills and delivering it to families
• Five meetups of their Meal Rescue program with Central Florida Mutual Aid, where volunteers picked up and delivered 105 meals!

 

Central Ohio United Non-Theists (COUNT)

COUNT volunteers worked their ongoing monthly shifts at The Ronald McDonald House, which provides housing and meals for families with sick children. The Columbus location is the largest in the world with 137 rooms, and COUNT has been volunteering there since 2014.

They also volunteered at the Van Buren Center shelter, serving dinners and cleaning up on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.

 

Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix

This Arizona team focused on their Little Free Pantry and Little Free Library. About 6 members have been stopping by weekly to stock the pantry with a variety of foods and drinks. This consists of a mix of shelf-stable, non-perishable food that is ready to eat, along with food that can be prepared. They have bilingual signs and a suggestion box on their community fridge for feedback from neighbors.

Volunteers also help with shopping for food and drinks, managing in-kind and monetary donations, and fundraising.

 

Southeastern Virginia Atheists, Skeptics & Humanists (SEVASH)

SEVASH maintains two Little Free Pantries in the towns of Newport News and Norfolk. In November, 13 known volunteers contributed 592 pounds of food at a cost of $491. With funds from GO Humanity, they were better able to reimburse contributors and increase contribution levels.

 

Humanist Alliance Philippines International (HAPI)

This team which has chapters all over the Philippines…

• Served 98 people bags of assorted veggies in Malolos City, Bulacan—specifically, in little-known economically-depressed areas usually not reached by other charities or social services.
• Organized Reading Rooms, where 53 kids read, learned humanist values, colors, shapes, animals, and communication skills.
• Held a Community Health Seminar in conjunction with a university nursing program. Attendees of all ages received food, groceries, and prizes, and professionals gave guidance on health issues the community asked about—including vision loss, hypertension, dengue, and diabetes.

 

Kasese Humanist School

This Ugandan Food Security Project team feeds their community from a garden on their campus. They’ve been harvesting massive amounts of amaranth greens, plus corn, beans, and cabbages. They just added potatoes—as well as infused the project with some cash which donors have been sending them!

Humanists of Tallahassee

This Florida team met twice a week to assemble and distribute snack and hygiene packs consisting of a granola bar, water, applesauce, pudding, peanut butter crackers, Vienna sausages, washcloth, soap, shampoo, deodorant, razor, toothbrush, toothpaste, period products when applicable, and socks.

 

Susquehanna Valley Ethical Society (SVES)

SVES volunteered at the Food Hub in Lewisburg, PA, which collects and delivers food to local pantries! Volunteers sorted boxes of food, checked donations for freshness and safety, and stocked shelves. 40 meal boxes were packed for delivery to 40 families.

 

Atheists Helping the Homeless DC (AHH DC)

This Food Security Project team in our nation’s capital served over 100 clients at their giveaway event. People got jackets, sweaters, shoes, and blankets, and hygiene kits—each of which included soap, dental supplies, breakfast bars, deodorant, period products, flashlights, and more.

At these events, volunteers ask questions of clients who are willing to better get to know and serve them. One woman told them she had been evicted and lost her housing—as well as custody of her three children.

 

Humanists of West Florida

This team works beside other groups on a weekly basis who provide food, clothing, toiletries to people in need. They distributed 144 bags of these items at three events in November. They also provided over-the-counter medicine, blankets, scarves, and took time to socialize with people as well.

 

Kenya Humanist Alliance

This team held a “Zero Hunger” event at a pumpkin farm in Muhoroni, where volunteers harvested and gave pumpkins to people facing food insecurity.

 

Austin Atheists Helping the Homeless

Austin AHH packed 192 bags of food with just 4 volunteers in 45 minutes—a group record! The next day they gave them all out at multiple locales where unsheltered people live, plus 100 socks, cold beverages (as it was still warm in Austin), and special holiday cookies.

Food Rescue Alliance Teams

Four of affiliates of our major grantee Food Rescue Alliance are among the volunteer teams receiving grants in the Food Security Project. Here’s what they’ve been up to:

CORMII Community Development Corporation

This team in Rockingham County, North Carolina meets every Thursday to hold a curbside food distribution!

 

The Food Drive

The weekend after Thanksgiving, this team in Melrose, MA performed 148 food rescues, distributing 5,000 pounds of food recovered from groceries stores, bakeries, and events. It was all good food that has no business in a landfill —carts bursting with prepared meals and sandwiches, towers of festive cakes and pies, racks of bread, catering trays with full entrees, and box upon box of beautiful produce and fruit displays.

The goal of food rescue is both to keep food out of landfills and to make sure food is being eaten by people. The Food Drive takes this a step further and commits the time and care necessary to match food with recipients where it will have the greatest impact within the closest proximity.

They delivered a large amount of this post-Thanksgiving bounty to My Brother’s Table in Lynn, Massachusetts, where it went a long way toward the 900 meals that their team provides seven days a week. Carefully selected boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables that they delivered to the Dwelling Place Soup Kitchen meant just as much to the guests for their dinner service.

 

CAFE Food Rescue

This Summit County, Colorado team collected 3,440 pounds of rescued food, bringing their total for the year to 28,900 pounds! Most came from the Keystone Conference Center. The team also found out that they will receive grant awards from the Summit County Senior Citizens, the Town of Frisco, and the Town of Breckenridge!

Donations to our Annual Appeal will move us toward our goal of tripling the number of Food Security Project teams in 2023, as well as increasing the amount of grant money each team receives.