Because of you, more children will start the school day ready to learn, without the pang of hunger as a distraction. Our Back-to-School campaign reminds us that along with pencils and paper, children need a daily supply of food to take on new concepts, run on playgrounds, and socialize more successfully.

This week, the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle family lost a long-time friend and advocate in the passing of Lottie Moore.

2023 is well underway, and Inter-Faith Food Shuttle challenges you to make this the year you make a difference by committing to a hunger free community. Become a Cultivator sustaining monthly donor to the Food Shuttle.

Now, at the ripe age of 7 years, Charlie has come up with a new way of supporting the hunger relief effort that is so close to his heart. He and his brother, 4-year-old Ford, recruited several of their neighborhood friends to host a lemonade stand to benefit BackPack Buddies. The boys and their friends wanted to do something for their peers going back to school to help them start off on the right foot.

Thankfully, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle has supporters who have taken the cause of child hunger to heart and have made a commitment to change this sad reality. Tom Russell Charitable Foundation is one such supporter, having made a recent $100,000 gift to the Food Shuttle to address child hunger head on, through targeted programming and focused partnerships.

To shine a spotlight on the loyal and caring spirit of our patrons, we recently spoke with Penny and Dean Morgan, who told us about their history with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and what it means to help those in need.

Giles Shih still remembers the haunting statistic on hunger from 13 years ago that 1 in 5 children in our community goes to bed hungry. For Giles, that was a call to action and it’s what motivated him to make his first donation to Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. He’s been a faithful supporter of the Food Shuttle ever since. Then last October, Giles signed up to be a sustaining monthly donor. With the understanding that such contributions provide reliable support for the Food Shuttle’s efforts to create a hunger free community, Giles became a Cultivator.

Jennifer Whitlock, Spaulding’s School Counselor, knew there had to be a better way to respond to the needs of the children under her care, while also addressing the issue of food waste. She turned to the Child Hunger Program team at Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, and it was determined that the solution the school was looking for was a School Pantry. The timing of this decision could not have been better as Whole Foods Market recently made a $20,000 in-kind gift to Inter-Faith Food Shuttle as an investment in several School Pantries in Wake and Durham counties.

For the last 16 years, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle has partnered with Food Lion and the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation to create a hunger free community in central North Carolina. This partnership has made a difference in the lives of neighbors throughout the region, as the grocery store chain and its charitable foundation have provided funding to a variety of Food Shuttle program initiatives over the course of the last year in excess of $75,000—and that support continues to grow.

This school year, Chiesi USA joined the fight to end child hunger with a dollar-for-dollar match for all back-to-school gifts made before August 31, 2021. With the inspiration of their generous match of $25,000, the Food Shuttle community rallied together to raise over $93,000!

Rodney Green wears many hats in his work with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. As a current member of the Food Shuttle’s Board of Directors, Rodney is one of the organization’s most enthusiastic advocates, sharing, “What we do is absolutely amazing for the community!” Along with his Board duties, he also chairs the Development Committee. In addition to giving of his time as a volunteer, Rodney is also a sustaining monthly donor, recognizing the incredible impact this has on the work of the Food Shuttle.