7 Ways to Help Fight Hunger in Worcester

It’s National Hunger Action Month – a month when organizations and individuals across the country are working to raise awareness of hunger, and talking about ways to make sure every person in our country (and our world!) has access to sufficient healthy, nutritious food. The problem of hunger sometimes seems almost insurmountable, but there are very practical actions that anyone can take to help fight hunger right here in Worcester.

Hunger in Worcester County

According to data collected by Feeding America, nearly 90,000 people in Worcester County – more than 11% of the overall population — are “food insecure.” That number includes nearly 31,000 children – nearly 18% of all the children living in Worcester County. Process those numbers for a moment. According to those figures, one child out of every six (and one person out of 8) in our communities is not always sure where, how or when they’ll get their next meal.

How You Can Help Fight Hunger in Worcester

Download this guide: 7 Ways to Fight Hunger in Worcester.

Donate to community organizations that fight hunger

Volunteer at the Food Bank, food pantries, or other organizations.

Organize something! It can be a food drive, a team of volunteers, or a letter-writing campaign to raise awareness. Use your imagination!

Educate yourself, your family and your local leaders. Education is one of our best tools in the fight against hunger, and there’s so much to know.

Share information about events, initiatives and the scope of hunger in our community on social media and in person. Raising awareness is vital!

Advocate for good policy and healthy food initiatives on the local, state and federal level.

Get involved on a macro level. Help elect people who care, run for office or volunteer for a city committee and help set good food policy!

1. Donate

Many community organizations rely on donations of all kinds to help their fight against hunger, but that doesn’t always mean money out of your pocket. Contribute to food drives, or donate food to local food pantries and shelters. Rachel’s Table maintains a useful list if you’re not sure where to contribute. Don’t forget that these organizations need more than just food to do the work they do. Consider in-kind donations of resources – can you run off a batch of brochures? Offer your phones for a food drive? Call and ask what they need! Some other things to keep in mind:

backyard fruit trees going to waste? Contact a local gleaning group to see if they want to come pick the fruit
hosting a catered event? Think ahead and make arrangements to donate any leftover food to a food pantry or shelter.
own a business that throws away food? Check out ways to donate food to local organizations that will use it to feed the hungry.

2. Volunteer

Your time, sweat and energy are among the most important things you can contribute to the fight against hunger. The Worcester County Food Bank has volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups, and also maintains a list of other area organizations that need volunteers to help fight hunger. Look beyond the obvious, though! Other volunteer opportunities include:

community farms and gardens, such as Nuestro Huerto rely on volunteers to help plant, tend, harvest and distribute food.
gleaning groups, like Rachel’s Table, need drivers to pick up and deliver donated food.

3. Organize

Individual volunteers are vital – but organized volunteers multiply the power of volunteerism. Here are just a few ideas for things and events you can organize to help fight hunger in Worcester:

Organize a food drive at work. It can be as simple as putting a box and a sign in the break room.
Turn a house party or other event into a food drive by asking your friends to bring canned goods or staples to contribute to a local shelter. These are especially appreciated outside typical holiday seasons.
Make your next school dance a food drive by asking for a contribution as admission to the event.
Volunteer as a team. Get together with co-workers, friends or your knitting circle and arrange to volunteer as a group at a food bank or shelter.

4. Educate

Education is one of the most important tools in the fight against hunger, and there’s so much information out there. These are just a few of the important ways you can help in the area of hunger awareness and education.

Educate yourself about the prevalence of hunger in our community.
Talk to your children about hunger in our community and ways they can help fight it.
Help educate local policy makers about the many ways that food policy can help alleviate hunger in our community.
Educate community members. Teach a class in canning, food organization, gardening or quick food prep for working moms.

5. Share

Social media has made it easier than ever to raise awareness of important issues. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms are powerful tools to help get the word out about hunger in our community and ways to fight it. What should you post? Here’s a few suggestions to help raise awareness of hunger and the fight against it:

Information about Hunger in Worcester County
Invitations to food drives and volunteer events to fight hunger
Links to websites about the fight against hunger
Information about current food policy initiatives, like the upcoming vote to re-authorize the Child Nutrition and WIC Re-Authorization Act

6. Advocate

Speak out on important issues in the fight against hunger. Our lawmakers, elected officials and those that set food policy for communities and organizations are vital allies in the fight to eradicate hunger. It’s important for them to know that fighting hunger is a key priority – and that their decisions can help end hunger. Advocacy sounds scary, but it can be as simple as:

Make a phone call to your senator, congressional representative or city councilor. Our policy priorities page lists some of the issues on which we’re currently focusing.
Send an email to your elected representatives. You can find Worcester City Council contact info at the link, and contact info for state and federal representatives here.

7. Get Involved

Worcester County and the City of Worcester offer multiple opportunities for those who are willing and ready to get involved with fighting hunger on a bigger stage.

Help elect city, state and federal officials who make ending hunger a priority.
Attend meetings of various commissions with important roles in determining food policy, such as the Planning Board and the Worcester Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee.
Volunteer to serve on a city committee, board or advisory council.

Please tune in to our radio show, Food Movement Radio every Monday at 12:30 p.m. to learn more about what’s happening in Worcester around the areas of food policy. We can end hunger in Worcester if we all work together.