Feeding America (Food For All)

For more than 35 years, Feeding America has responded to the hunger crisis in America by providing food to people in need through a nationwide network of food banks. 

The concept of food banking was developed by John van Hengel in Phoenix, AZ in the late 1960s. Van Hengel, a retired businessman, had been volunteering at a soup kitchen trying to find food to serve the hungry. One day, he met a desperate mother who regularly rummaged through grocery store garbage bins to find food for her children. She suggested that there should be a place where, instead of being thrown out, discarded food could be stored for people to pick up—similar to the way “banks” store money for future use. With that, an industry was born.

Van Hengel established St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix, AZ as the nation’s first food bank. In its initial year, van Hengel and his team of volunteers distributed 275,000 pounds of food to people in need. Word of the food bank’s success quickly spread, and states began to take note. By 1977, food banks had been established in 18 cities across the country.

As the number of food banks began to increase, van Hengel created a national organization for food banks and in 1979 he established Second Harvest, which was later called America’s Second Harvest the Nation’s Food Bank Network. In 2008, the network changed its name to Feeding America to better reflect the mission of the organization.

Today, Feeding America is the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization—a powerful and efficient network of 200 food banks across the country. As food insecurity rates hold steady at the highest levels ever, the Feeding America network of food banks has risen to meet the need. We feed 46 million people at risk of hunger, including 12 million children and 7 million seniors. Learn more about how we get food to people in need in our "How We Work" section. Support Feeding America and help solve hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate.

Learn more, http://www.feedingamerica.org/

Hetrick-Martin Institute (Gay Rights)

Since its founding, Hetrick-Martin Institute has grown from a small, volunteer-led grass-roots advocacy organization into a leading professional provider of social support and programming for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ) youth. HMI youth members, ranging in age from 13 to 24, come from over 300 zip codes throughout all of New York City and the surrounding metropolitan area. They are of all colors and sizes, come from all kinds of backgrounds, and their enthusiasm and creativity is boundless.

HMI is also the host agency for the groundbreaking Harvey Milk High School, devoted to serving at-risk youth and founded in 1985 in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education, which administers the school and is responsible for admissions. 

As HMI continues to expand nationally, HMI: New Jersey serves as our first direct service site outside of the HMI headquarters in New York City. HMI: New Jersey is the first comprehensive LGBTQ youth out-of-school time program in New Jersey dedicated to providing youth who are at-risk of harassment, abuse, neglect, homelessness and disconnection with a safe, supportive environment in which to grow and thrive. 

Created in 2013, HMI’s Center for LGBTQ Youth Advocacy and Capacity Building, advocates on behalf of LGBTQ youth by influencing policy on local, national and international levels, while helping to build the capacity of decision-makers, individuals and institutions that serve this marginalized population. 

Learn more, https://www.hmi.org/

Rock the Vote (Register to vote today)

Rock the Vote is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to building the political power of young people.

In 1990, music executives founded Rock the Vote in response to censorship of hip hop and rap artists. Our first partnership, with MTV, helped us to promote the message that “Censorship is Un-American” and to engage young people across the country in fighting back.

For over 25 years, Rock the Vote has revolutionized the way we use pop culture, music, art, and technology to engage young people in politics and build our collective power.

We’ve registered and turned out millions of young voters on campuses, in communities, and online. We’ve successfully fought for — and defended — voting rights and increased access to democracy. We’ve raised awareness and campaigned for issues that impact the lives of young people. We’ve pioneered innovative ways to make registration and voting work for our generation, and built open-source technology to empower other organizations, too.

Learn more, https://www.rockthevote.org/register-to-vote/?source=wl-verify