Capital Area Food Bank Announces $190,000 Grant by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to Bring Greater Awareness to Domestic Hunger Issues in Our Nation's Capital
Washington, DC (PRWEB) October 24, 2013 -- The Capital Area Food Bank today announced a $190,000 grant by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to improve the food bank’s online giving platform. The collaboration builds on the Foundation’s effort to raise awareness of the estimated 50 million Americans who experience hunger in the United States, including nearly 700,000 in and around our nation’s capital.
The announcement coincides with the Washington, D.C. book release of 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World, which chronicles Howard G. Buffett’s evolving views on combating global hunger and poverty. To promote the book and its central theme of operating with a sense of urgency and taking more risks to invest in new ideas, Howard G. Buffett, the eldest son of famed investor Warren Buffett and the Chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, will speak tonight at the Smithsonian Freer and Sackler Gallery of Art during his only public Washington, D.C.-area appearance for the book tour. He will be welcomed on stage by Nancy E. Roman, President & CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank. Howard W. Buffett, a contributing author to the book, will join his father onstage.
“The United States is the richest and most generous country in the world when it comes to food production and food aid, yet too many Americans struggle to feed themselves and their families,” said Howard G. Buffett. “Local organizations like the Capital Area Food Bank help close the gap on our country’s social safety net. I hope more Americans will not only recognize the problem of hunger in this country, but that they will find ways to help address it.”
“Hunger is a big challenge that needs to be addressed in Washington,” said Nancy Roman, President and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank. “We are very grateful to the Howard G. Buffett Foundation for this grant, which gives us the technical capacity to engage new supporters across new demographics.”
The grant will support the development of the Capital Area Food Bank’s new Empty Bowls Virtual Giving Platform, a fundraising tool that seeks to engage new supporters across new demographics using new media. The fundraising platform will make it easier than ever for Washingtonians to help fight hunger in their own community by donating via computer or mobile device to help fill the empty bowls of neighbors in need.
According to the Capital Area Food Bank, there are nearly 700,000 people at risk of hunger in the Washington metropolitan area, of which 150,000 are children. Washington, D.C. has the second highest rate of food insecurity among children of any other state in the nation. Food insecure individuals are defined as those who may be able to afford food and not insecure at all times, but may be forced to choose between healthy meals and other basic necessities throughout the year.
About The Howard G. Buffett Foundation
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation works to improve the quality of life for the world’s most impoverished and marginalized populations – including the nearly one billion men, women, and children who lack basic food security. 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World chronicles Chairman and CEO Howard G. Buffett’s evolving views on combating hunger and poverty. To learn more, visit http://www.40Chances.com, or find us on Facebook at facebook.com/40Chances, and Twitter at @40Chances.
About the Capital Area Food Bank
The Capital Area Food Bank is the largest hunger relief organization in the Washington metropolitan area serving 500,000 people through direct food distribution programs and a network of 500 community partners. In 2012, the Capital Area Food Bank provided 45 million pounds of food to kids, seniors and families in Washington, DC; Maryland and Northern Virginia, of which 17.5 million pounds was fresh fruits and vegetables. The Capital Area Food Bank is a member of Feeding America. To learn more, visit: http://www.capitalareafoodbank.org, or find us on Facebook facebook.com/ CapitalAreaFoodBank, and Twitter at @foodbankmetrodc.
Page Crosland, Capital Area Food Bank, http://www.capitalareafoodbank.org, +1 2026449816, [email protected]
Share this article