"2nd Recommended Product"

Today, I will be discussing a Massachusetts based organization that is dedicated to the eradication of poverty, Project Bread. Project Bread is the only statewide anti-hunger organization. The organization listens and learns, identifies needs and opportunities, and connect people, resources, and programs, in both tried and new ways. Project Bread introduces a fresh approach to ending poverty. With the help and support of their partners, donors, corporate sponsors, individuals-and tens of thousands of walkers- they work to break the cycle of hunger and poverty by devising, funding, advocating for, and facilitating solutions that change lives across the Commonwealth. The three goals of the organization include:

1. To promote sustainable and reliable access to health food for all,
2. To invest in the strength and resiliency of local communities,
3. To collaborate with others in building a robust regional food system.

Some of the ways that Project Bread engages with the community include:

• Public educators and thought leaders: The organization aims to reframe how hunger is perceived, by putting it within a larger economic and social context, and by empowering those that they serve to take part in solution. This helps them to remove the stigma, connect more people with the support they need, and ultimately, enable those in need to give back to their own communities.

• Conveners and Connectors: Project Bread brings difference, by bringing together, farmers, legislators, school food workers, community food providers, organizers of farmers' markets, parents, and many more, to continually craft more effective solutions in communities. By partnering with both private and government groups, they are able to operate effective programs throughout the state to evolve and implement even more effective solutions, maximizing the impact.

• Funders: Project Bread raises money for, and invests in, programs that make a difference. They advance thriving local food initiatives, community supported agriculture programs, urban agriculture, subsidized markets in at-risk neighborhoods, emergency food activities, and childhood nutrition programs.

• Innovators and catalyst for change: The organization advocates for the state's most vulnerable populations, informing their efforts with research conducted in collaboration with top academic institutions, and drive innovation by joining forces with both government and industry to develop and pilot new models.

Project Bread focuses on five main sections in their journey and fight towards eradicating poverty. These sections include:

1. Community solutions: As of October 2013, 501,212 households participated in SNAP. Community solutions are an important resource for those across the state that struggle with food insecurity, including the most vulnerable populations - children and working-poor families, immigrants, the disabled, and seniors. In 2013, Project Bread invested more than $5 million in community based programs, food pantries, health centers, summer meal programs, elder meal programs, food-source hotline, and more, in an attempt to reach the state's most vulnerable populations, which includes children, working poor families, immigrants, and seniors. Some of their successful works include: The Project Bread Food Source Hotline, which answered over 46,000 callers from across Massachusetts in 2013, invested more than $2 million in over 130 communities to help those struggling with food insecurity, and strengthen the local food economies, emphasized and ensures that good nutrition is an important facet of personal health care, and many more.
2. Children and School: Over 200,000 children in Massachusetts have a parent that earns less than $11 per hour. Project Bread reaches out to one of the most vulnerable populations with thoughtfully researched "kid-approved" programs that provide children with healthy food in the places they learn and grow. The organization has shown a commitment to building good eating habits from the start, and helping children to achieve their full potential. The organization works to enroll low-income children in federal nutrition programs, improve the quality of the food served, make nutritious food available where kids learn and grow, and teach school food (and preschool) kitchen staff and parents how to prepare nutritious, fresh, kid-tested meals on a limited budget.
3. Informing Public Policy: Nationally, more than 91% of SNAP benefits go to households with incomes below the poverty line. This is equal to $19,790 for a family of three. Project Bread, working hand in hand with the legislature and executive branch, champions legislation that makes a big impact on the lives of low-income children and families, both locally, regionally, statewide, and nationally. With the support of higher education, the medical community, and those who drive public policy in our government, Project Bread connects smart programs with the funds they need, and advocates for legislation-to make a difference in the lives of those who are hungry.
4. Building The Food System: In 2011, 46% of fast-food workers in Massachusetts relied on $173 million in aid (SNAP, Medicaid, and EITC) to meet basic expenses every month. Project Bread, in collaboration with farmers and producers, adheres to build a robust regional food system that is fair, environmentally sound, and coherent. The organization supports local businesses, reduce environmental impact, increase jobs, improve public health, and increase families' access to fresh, affordable, appropriate food.
5. The Walk For Hunger: An ongoing tradition in Massachusetts since 1969, The Walk for Hunger, collaborated and sustained by ordinary people, has  generated more than a hundred million dollars through individual contributions of less than $100. The walk brings together, a variety of people from many different communities and cultures - kids, parents, students, and corporations, with the intention to offer hope to hungry people and to support Project Bread's fresh approach to ending hunger. Many believe that the opposite to hunger is being full, but Project Bread emphasizes that the opposite to hunger isn't just being full, it is being healthy. 

Project Bread provides an opportunity for people to go on their website and access their available resources, including information on the Food Source Hotline, Getting SNAP, Hunger FAQs, Meals4Kids, Department of Transitional Assistance, and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), through their "Get Help" page. Facts and research enhances everyone's education about hunger - whom it affects and to what extents. Project Bread has made available a "Get The Facts" page on their website, for those that are interested in expanding their knowledge about poverty. Though, there is a "Donate" button on every page of their website, Project Bread has taken the time to customize a "Ways To Give" page on their website, including - give now, become a corporate sponsor, text a  donation, planned giving, join the walk for hunger, tribute gifts, and double your gifts. Giving does not necessarily mean monetary donations. Project Bread has shown other ways to give through their "Get Involved" page.

I have included a link to Project Bread's website below.

http://www.projectbread.org/