“In 2009, Adam Lowy was working at his family’s moving company, helping families pack up and move to a new home.
After some time working odd jobs at the company, he noticed that many families would leave behind plenty of items — including food.
‘When people move, they throw away a whole bunch of stuff: food, clothing, furniture, you name it,’ Lowy told TODAY. ‘And what bothered us was the perfectly good, nonperishable food that was getting left behind in the pantry, or simply thrown in the trash.’
He started asking relocating families one question — and Move for Hunger was born.
‘Moving’s stressful, you know? It’s not a fun experience, there’s a lot going on,’ Lowy said. ‘And we started by asking a very simple question: “Do you want to donate your food when you move?”‘
Within a month, Lowy and the moving company had donated 300 pounds of food to a local food bank. It was easy for him and other movers to simply collect food and drop it off at the food bank, and Lowy said that it opened his eyes to the need in his area.
‘I had never visited a local food bank before,” he said. “Growing up here in Monmouth County, New Jersey, the home of Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi and the Jersey Shore, you look around and don’t see a lot of poverty or food lines. And (the food bank) told us that there were more than 100,000 people, just in our county, that didn’t have enough to eat. And at that point, it became personal.’
Since then, Move for Hunger has only grown. When it started, Lowy just used his family’s company to connect with moving families, but now, the organization has established a network of over 1,000 moving companies across the United States and Canada. Many of the moving companies are partnered with local food banks, and Move for Hunger has also developed partnerships with apartment communities in all 50 states, relocation management companies, and large companies like Target and Facebook to help reach as many people as possible.
‘Essentially, we’re bringing a food drive into people’s living rooms every day,’ Lowy said.
When someone gives notice that they’re going to move, Move for Hunger provides a program letter that educates about local need, and the moving company will provide a box and a recyclable food collection bag.”
View the whole story here: https://www.today.com/food/move-hunger-fights-food-insecurity-nationwide-today-t211157