HP and Stop Hunger Now Join Forces in the Fight Against Hunger
by Rebecca Wang, Senior Manager, Community Engagement, HP
At HP, we are continuing the steady drumbeat of activity that makes up HP Living Progress, our vision for creating a better future for everyone through our actions and innovations. Most recently, we are working with international hunger relief agency Stop Hunger Now in support of its mission to “end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid to the world’s most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.”
“What we want everyone to know is that hunger is solvable and is the common thread among the world’s most challenging issues,” said Rod Brooks, President and CEO of Stop Hunger Now. “When hunger is targeted, you give leverage and hope to every other cause including poverty, disease, education, and the welfare of women and children.”
To date, our employees have packaged more than 1.3 million meals for the world’s hungry as part of a new global service initiative that represents the largest international meal-packaging partnership in Stop Hunger Now’s history.
More than 4,500 HP employees at HP sites in Costa Rica, Germany, India, Ireland, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and the United Kingdom, as well as 10 sites in the United States have all taken part, with more to come.
The human impact is profound
At each event hundreds of employees formed assembly lines to package highly nutritious dehydrated meals including rice, soy, vegetables and a flavoring mix with 23 essential vitamins and minerals. The meals will go to schools, orphanages, nurseries and medical clinics in vulnerable communities in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Guatemala, India, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Syria and Vietnam.
“Too many Vietnamese children see their options for the future disappear due to their families' poor financial circumstances. Yet a child’s horizons can open up with something as simple as a healthy meal,” said Nancy Letteri, Executive Director of Children of Vietnam. “Stunted growth is particularly wide-spread. Stop Hunger Now meals empower us to serve a hot meal each day in school—for many of our students this is the only meal they receive. Once fed, our children are better able to learn and grow.”
Launched in May as part of HP’s global Day of Service, the initiative between HP and Stop Hunger Now initiative will run until the end of the calendar year.