Broken records, 1st deliveries and Saturday Night Live!
Welcome to the #GIVEHEALTHY Monthly Newsletter
designed to keep you informed and inspired. Our digital food drive system is built to eliminate traditional challenges, match donations to real needs, and strengthen donor relationships. Because hunger is a health issue, and better food means greater impact, we’re here to support food banks and pantries with smarter tools and meaningful updates each month.
#GiveHealthy December News
Celebrating Our First Deliveries of the Season — And a Record-Breaking Month for #GiveHealthy!
There’s nothing quite like the excitement of a first delivery. Today, we’re thrilled to share that #GiveHealthy is making its very first deliveries of healthy food to a whole new group of food bank and food pantry partners. For us, these first drop-offs represent the beginning of what will become many deliveries, to many new organizations, in communities all across the country.
Every year, November represents the peak of food drive season and this year was no different. What was different? The record setting number of #GiveHealthy food drives to support food banks and pantries nationwide.
Boston? Check! NYC? Check! Las Vegas? Check! Honolulu? Check! Nashville? Check! Cincinnati? Check! Savannah? Check! Austin? Check! and many, many more communities from coast to coast!
We also saw a record number of drives not only reach their goal but exceed AND a record number of drive organizers raise their initial goal, sometimes up to five times more! And guess what, if your drive was ongoing in November, you were in good company, as the cast and crew of Saturday Night Live raised tons of food for City Harvest in NYC during the month. Thanks to them and thanks to YOU!
Goals Reached. Goals Raised. Records Shattered.
This season brought a surge of momentum unlike anything we’ve seen before:
- A record number of drives reached their goals
- A record number of drives exceeded their goals
And many drive organizers raised their goals — sometimes by five times their original target
Announcing the New #GiveHealthy Success Toolkit!
All of this activity led to something else we’re excited to share:
We just released the NEW #GiveHealthy Success Toolkit, created to help drive organizers celebrate their impact and thank their communities with ease.
#GiveHealthy Spotlight
It’sss Saturday Night Live!
The cast and crew of SNL recently hosted a GiveHealthy food drive to support City Harvest, and we’re feeling a little starstruck!
Current News
A NY State Food Bank Steps Up in Food is Medicine
Regional Food Bank’s “Food Farmacy” program in upstate New York provides people with diabetes, many of whom are low-income and food insecure, with weekly boxes of healthy food plus virtual nutrition counseling. Across several rounds, participating patients saw a meaningful average drop in blood-sugar levels (about 1.7 %) and lost roughly nine pounds, while increasing their intake of fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious foods. This kind of “food as medicine” model shows that giving people reliable access to healthy groceries can support better health and may reduce chronic-disease risks.
(Food Bank News, 5 minute read)
Food stamps are back, but millions will soon lose benefits permanently
Although SNAP benefits resumed after the government shutdown, millions of Americans are now facing permanent cuts under a new federal tax and spending law that tightens work requirements and removes eligibility for certain immigrants, including refugees. Experts warn these changes represent the largest reduction to the social safety net in decades and could push hundreds of thousands off food assistance within months. Food banks are already seeing dramatic increases in demand, with food purchases jumping more than 300% during the shutdown period. With federal support shrinking, pantries and nonprofits are bracing for a long-term surge in hunger they may struggle to meet.
(Politico, 8 minute read)
How Mountaineer is Reaching the Hardest-to-Reach Kids
Mountaineer Food Bank of West Virginia is expanding access to food for one of the hardest-to-reach populations—food-insecure children—through its confidential Extra Mile home delivery program. By partnering closely with local school districts, the program delivers monthly boxes of healthy food directly to families’ doorsteps, helping reduce stigma that often keeps older students from using in-school pantry programs. The program creatively uses DoorDash in some areas and school bus drivers in others to navigate rural delivery challenges. Serving more than 400 households annually, the initiative is now being evaluated for expansion across all 48 counties the food bank serves.
(Food Bank News, 4 minute read)
