In 1989, with a vision to ease the crisis of hunger in North Carolina in a simple but effective way, Jill Staton Bullard and Maxine Solomon began “rescuing” food that would’ve gone to waste and getting it to neighbors in need. In the years since, generous friends have been Growing Goodness by supporting hunger relief efforts across the Food Shuttle’s seven-county service area.
Today, our trucks roll out every morning -- we’re reaching thousands of people with nourishing food every week. We are also tackling the root causes of food insecurity through innovative programs that empower people to build stable and secure lives, and by advocating for policies that eliminate systemic barriers.
But the need is still great. Hunger is unacceptable, and neighbors in every county across North Carolina are still burdened by the daily struggle for enough nourishment. Ours is the 10th hungriest state in the U.S., with more than 1.2 million people facing hunger.
Our neighbors facing food insecurity -- children, seniors, families, and individuals -- rely on Inter-Faith Food Shuttle to help ease the worry of where their next meal will come from so they can work toward meeting their other needs, like housing, job training and work, transportation, etc.
With the help of our community, we can move more quickly toward ending hunger and ensuring that all of our neighbors have that basic need met so they can move from surviving to thriving.
Generous funders at North Raleigh United Methodist Church are offering $50,000 in gift matching between April 1st and June 15th. Called the Blessing Initiative, every gift will be doubled, which means every gift will have double the impact.
This generosity will advance our urgent mission to feed our neighbors, teach self-sufficiency, grow healthy foods, and cultivate innovative approaches to end hunger right here in central North Carolina. Through this gift match, we can provide more nourishing meals and emergency groceries, increase our community-wide nutrition education, harvest more fresh produce from our Farm and Learning Gardens, and address the root causes of hunger.
Together, we are Growing Goodness.
Please mark your calendar and stay tuned for more updates about the Blessing Initiative over the next few months!