Dallas, Nov. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) announced a partnership with Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, and Feeding America®. The NTFB will receive $250,000 to immediately deliver meals to North Texans in need. The partnership also builds long-term technology solutions to scale their impact and provide the community with greater access to resources
This announcement is part of a larger initiative from Google.org and Feeding America to help provide 50 million meals* to communities across the United States.
“The North Texas Food Bank has been a key local driver in addressing food insecurity, helping the nearly 700,000 people facing hunger within its 13-country service territory,” said Plano Mayor John Muns. “I’m grateful that Google.org is supporting the North Texas Food Bank’s incredible work with funds that will provide hundreds of thousands of meals and help the food bank improve its technological infrastructure to ensure it can continue to care for our community.”
Today, 34 million Americans, including 9 million children, are facing food insecurity. Among Feeding America network food banks, 90% report an increased or sustained need over the last month. Food banks themselves face mounting headwinds as food donations decline and costs rise for freight, food purchase and every other aspect of operations.
The NTFB reports that the need for food assistance is greater today than it was at the height of the pandemic. Since March of this year, the Food Bank has seen a 17% increase in the number of meals NTFB has provided access to through both the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and food distributed. The NTFB and its feeding network of more than 400 food pantries and organizations are currently providing access to an average of 12.3 million meals each month.
“With inflated food, gas and housing costs, our neighbors in every zip code, many of whom were struggling before the pandemic, are facing increasingly difficult choices every day – deciding whether to purchase groceries or pay for other necessities such as gas, medicine or utilities – and that’s a decision no one should have to make,” said Trisha Cunningham, President and CEO for the North Texas Food Bank. “We are thankful for corporate partners like Google.org that not only provide operating support to bridge the hunger gap in North Texas but also understands the critical role technology investments have on our ability to provide our neighbors facing hunger food for today and hope for tomorrow.”
Google has seen the need reflected in Google Search Trends on a national and local level in Texas. Nationally, Google sees a spike in searches for food support every November, but more than ever before, Americans are making searches around “food” and “prices” in 2022. They are also searching “how to give back” more than ever, with searches for “where to donate food near me” skyrocketing 850% over the past five years.
In the past 12 months, Google has seen increases in several food-related search trends, including:
- 500% increase in the search for “food bank distribution schedule near me”
- 300% increase in “food shortages” and
- 90% increase in the search for “food pantry near me open now”
“Addressing food insecurity requires a sustained and coordinated approach. We’re proud to partner with Feeding America to deliver over 50 million meals to people in need, and to work with them to strengthen their technology infrastructure,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. “We’re also making our products, like Search and Maps, more helpful to people searching for resources or ways to give back.”
“We simply could not do what we do in the fight against hunger without the support of the community and invite you to join in the fight against hunger. Volunteer your time at the North Texas Food Bank or with one of many feeding partners. Host a canned food drive or make a financial donation – for every $1 donated, we can provide three nourishing meals. Lend your voice to advocate and thank our elected officials for supporting food policies and programs that help families in need. Access to nutritious food should never have to be a choice and your involvement means more food on the table and more hope for our neighbors,” continued Cunningham.
Members of the community can join the effort to fight hunger by donating food – the following items are most helpful:
- Peanut Butter, 16 oz – not mixed with other items like jelly, honey, chocolate
- Canned Fruit, 14-16 oz
- Shelf-stable Milk, 8 oz not flavored with chocolate, vanilla, strawberry
- Canned Tuna, 5 oz
- Canned Chicken, 5 oz
- Low-sodium Canned Vegetables, 15-16 oz
- Trail Mix, 1-2 oz bags
There are also numerous volunteer opportunities throughout the holiday season, including volunteering on NTFB’s warehouse floor putting together food boxes. Learn more at the NTFB volunteer site.
The North Texas Food Bank will also receive donated Search Ads to connect people looking for help with resources, provide avenues for others to give back and drive food security awareness nationwide.
For more information about North Texas Food Bank, visit www.ntfb.org. Media assets can also be found at https://digitalmedia.vnr1.com/2019/08/22/19-054_ntfb_dmp/.
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About North Texas Food Bank
The North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) is a top-ranked nonprofit hunger-relief organization that sources, packages and distributes food through a diverse network of more than 400 feeding partners including food pantries and community organizations across 13 North Texas counties. The organization also provides food to children, seniors and families through various direct-delivery programs, including mobile pantries.
In its last fiscal year, the NTFB provided access to nearly 137 million nutritious meals, a 9% percent increase over the prior year. In response to the ongoing elevated hunger crisis, the organization has launched a $500 million campaign, Nourish North Texas, to provide more food for today and hope for tomorrow by addressing the barriers to food security that our neighbors face.
About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 6.6 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
About Google.org
Google.org, Google’s philanthropy, brings the best of Google to help solve some of humanity’s biggest challenges combining funding, product donations and technical expertise to support underserved communities and provide opportunity for everyone. We engage nonprofits and social enterprises who make a significant impact on the communities they represent, and whose work has the potential to produce meaningful change. We want a better world, faster — and we believe in leveraging technology and applying scalable data-driven innovation to move the needle.
