Bloomberg’s Million Meals Challenge Surpasses Goal, Reaching 1.1 Million Meals

Year round, Bloomberg employees come together to help address food security challenges in partnership with our wide network of nonprofit food providers globally.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) latest report on food security and nutrition found that nearly 30 percent of the population, equivalent to 2.4 billion people around the world, do not have constant access to nutritionally adequate foods.

With the increased cost of living affecting everything from groceries to baby formula, that reality is getting worse. Bloomberg employees are taking local action to help tackle the ever growing hunger crisis in the communities in which they live and work, including through the most recent global Million Meals Challenge.

This October, Bloomberg launched a global Million Meals Challenge, to boost our efforts to fight food insecurity, which throughout the year provides support for our network of 100 food assistance organizations around the world. In total more than 2,500 employees from 35 cities around the world joined the challenge and helped package and distribute 1.1 million meals this month.

In New York, Bloomberg teamed up with US Hunger at the Armory Track in Upper Manhattan and at Bloomberg’s Global Headquarters to package 1 million meals for New Yorkers in need. Over the course of three days, close to 1,400 volunteers, including employees, friends, family and clients, worked together to help Bloomberg reach our goal in honor of World Food Day. The meals were distributed to local families facing food insecurity by longtime partner City Harvest–NYC’s largest food rescue organization–through their network of food pantries across the 5 boroughs of New York.

“Together with Bloomberg, we’re not just packing meals; we’re packaging hope and unity. This million-meal milestone is a testament to our collective commitment to fighting hunger and creating a brighter, more nourished future for all,” said Rick Whitted President & Chief Executive Officer for U.S. Hunger.

Across the US, Bloomberg employees also partnered with Feeding Westchester’s Feeding United Home Deliveries program to package more than 9,000 lbs of fresh produce, the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank to assemble more than 20,000 pounds of food for elderly and disabled San Francisco residents, and in New Jersey, we partnered with Mercer Street Friends, Nourish.NJ, Americas Grow a Row, and Bentley Community Services to provide fresh produce and meals in low income communities.

In Canada, Bloomberg employees worked together to support the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto and in Latin America, we partnered with São Paulo’s Gastromotiva and Mexico City’s BAMX (Banco de Alimentos de México) to help pack meals.

Across Europe, many of Bloomberg’s non-profit partners are working towards a more circular economy by focusing on minimizing waste and redistributing surplus food. Our new partner in London, Felix Project, does just this by collecting spare food to support communities in need across the UK. In London, employees hosted a food drive with Felix Project, rescued fruit from local farms and volunteered in their warehouse and kitchen. Additionally, London employees helped assemble over 35,000 meals for Family Action, Mayor’s Fund for London Kitchen Social, and St Mungo’s, and supported the Soup Kitchen Outreach Walk activities to help Londoners experiencing homelessness.

Across 9 cities in Europe, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Lugano, Madrid, Paris, Prague and Zurich, employees supported partners working towards a more circular economy by packing 3,600 meals for local food banks with the European Food Banks Federation (FEBA).

In Milan, employees volunteered for a special bread making activity at Istituto Beata Vergine Addolorata (IBVA), a recipient of The Earthshot Prize and one of the hubs for the City of Milan’s Local Food Waste Hub program. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the program collects excess food from supermarkets, office canteens and other partners, and redistributes it to families in need.

In Africa, employees in 3 cities provided 800 meals for local communities. Employees in the Johannesburg office packed food parcels for Food Forward South Africa, while in Lagos and Nairobi employees packed meals with our Global Food Banking Network partners, Lagos Food Bank and Food Banking Kenya.

Employees in Dubai came together to pack 100 food boxes for the Dubai local food bank partner, the UAE Food Bank. The volunteers worked as a team to provide approximately 3,000 meals for underprivileged communities and their families in the U.A.E..

Throughout Asia, 436 employees in 6 cities came together to meet the Million Meals Challenge. Employees in Tokyo held a food drive donating dry food items for Bloomberg’s long standing food bank partner Second Harvest Japan.

In Singapore, Bloomberg hosted a canned food drive, where close to 3,000 cans were donated to local partner Food from the Heart. Alongside the food drive, volunteers also took part in four food packing sessions helping to pack 640 items for Food from the Heart and Food Bank Singapore.

In Sydney, employee volunteers were joined by the CEO of Eat Up Australia, Elise Cook, to make more than 1,136 sandwiches for students in need. While in Mumbai, employees made a total of 1,416 sandwiches for underserved students through our foodbank partner Feeding India.

Employees in Hong Kong helped package 6,250 bags of 1kg rice for families in need in partnership with the Foodlink Foundation.

While Bloomberg met and even surpassed our goal, our commitment does not end there. Bloomberg employees will continue to come together to address the issue of food insecurity by generously supporting local food banks, soup kitchens and humanitarian organizations that provide food assistance to those who need it most.

Originally published on bloomberg.com