Mar 25, 2025 | Featured, In the News, Meals of Hope News, Uncategorized
Hilliard, OH – March 15, 2025
Meals of Hope, a national nonprofit dedicated to combating food insecurity, celebrated the grand opening of its Ohio chapter on Saturday, March 15th, with a highly successful meal-packing event in Hilliard. In partnership with the Hilliard Food Pantry, Kiwanis Club of Hilliard, and the Hilliard United Methodist Church, nearly 200 volunteers packed over 50,000 nutritious meals for Central Ohio families.
The event, held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., marked the official launch of Meals of Hope’s presence in Ohio. Spearheaded by Hilliard resident Jen Markewicz and her family, the event brought together nearly 200 volunteers from multiple different organizations, including McKesson, Hilliard Church of Christ, Knights of Columbus, Moose Lodge, Parker Hannifin, and Hilliard Davidson High School to address the growing need for food assistance in the region.
Meals of Hope has a 17-year history of organizing community-driven meal-packing events across the United States. To date, the organization has mobilized over 250,000 volunteers and packed more than 100 million meals. The Ohio chapter aims to continue this impactful work by providing local organizations with a tangible way to support their communities.
“Our goal for volunteer turnout was 100 people. When nearly 200 people showed up, I was overwhelmed with emotion and pride for my Central Ohio Community,” said Jen Markewicz. “The event was full of energy, excitement, and people working together for 2 hours to pack 5 pallets of a pasta meal that will be distributed right here in our community. Over 50,000 meals!”
The packed meals will be distributed through the Hilliard Food Pantry and Kiwanis Club of Hilliard to food-insecure families in Central Ohio. Meals of Hope in Ohio is now open and actively seeking partnerships with organizations interested in hosting future meal-packing events. These events offer a unique team-building experience while directly addressing food insecurity.
Organizations interested in volunteering or hosting a Meals of Hope event can contact the Ohio chapter at (614) 636-1026 or visit https://mealsofhope.org/ohiosouth/. Meals of Hope is available to set up events anywhere and encourages any organization looking to make a direct impact on their community to reach out.
About Meals of Hope:
Meals of Hope is a national nonprofit organization that empowers communities to combat hunger through hands-on meal-packing events. For over 15 years, Meals of Hope has brought together volunteers from businesses, organizations, and communities to package nutritious meals for those in need.
Contact:
Jen Markewicz
VP of Community Development
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenmarkewicz/
(614) 636-1026
Feb 12, 2025 | Featured, In the News, Uncategorized
Courtesy of NBA
Cavaliers and Giant Eagle partner with local nonprofits to serve 1,000,000 meals to underserved communities by September 25, 2025
Cleveland – In October, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Giant Eagle launched the Million Meals Mission to address food insecurity across Northeast Ohio. The two organizations are partnering with local food agencies and nonprofits to serve 1,000,000 meals to underserved communities by September 25, 2025. The efforts are associated with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Children’s Hunger Alliance and The Hunger Network to achieve this mission.
The program kicks off Giant Eagle’s new designation as the Official Supermarket of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Charge and Monsters. To tip-off the new campaign, the Cavaliers hosted a Holiday Food Distribution at the May Dugan Center where team members from the Cavaliers, Giant Eagle and Cleveland-Cliffs packaged food and distributed nearly 6,000 meals to local communities.
During distribution, the Cavaliers unveiled a new Cavs-branded refrigerated produce truck that the Greater Cleveland Food Bank will use to deliver fresh produce and shelf-stable foods to community members across Northeast Ohio. Throughout the season, the organization will host various drives and programming efforts in support of the food agency partners to reach the million-meal mission.
“Our organization is on a mission to eradicate food insecurity in Northeast Ohio,” said Kevin Clayton, Cleveland Cavaliers Executive Vice President and Chief Impact and Equity Officer. “By collaborating with diverse partners to organize food drives, distributions and provide resources, we’re working tirelessly to ensure that no community member goes hungry.”
Following the November food distribution with Greater Cleveland Food Bank, the Cavs and Giant Eagle are set to host a meal-packing event with 200 volunteers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in early December. Team members from both organizations will collaborate to pack 50,000 meals, which will be donated to the Children’s Hunger Alliance and distributed to kids across Northeast Ohio. The Cavs have supported and worked together with the Children’s Hunger Alliance over the years to combat food insecurity — most recently in July when 8,400 meals were packed for children at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Later in the month, the Cavs and Giant Eagle will continue the outreach by volunteering at the Hunger Network’s Midtown Market Pantry. During the winter pantry shopping day, team members will help local neighbors shop in person for nutritious meals, connecting with hundreds of individuals in the downtown Cleveland community. Nearly 1,000 meals will be distributed marking a significant step towards the organizations’ shared goal of achieving food security in the region.
Food security is a key area of community focus for both the Cavs and Giant Eagle. The two organizations share a common goal to fight hunger in Northeast Ohio through strategic partnerships, financial support and helping provide access to nutritious food for our community.
“It was incredibly important to both Giant Eagle and the Cavaliers that giving back to the communities we both serve be a central part of our renewed partnership,” said Dan Donovan, Giant Eagle Sr. Director of Public Relations and Sports Partnerships. “With the amazing support of Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Children’s Hunger Alliance, The Hunger Network and the passionate Cavaliers fan community, we know we can reach our mission of delivering one million meals to our neighbors in need.”
For more information and to keep track of all meals collected, visit cavs.com/foodsecurity where all Million Meals Mission programs will be listed.
Learn More about Meals of Hope
Ready to make a difference in your community? To learn more about Meals of Hope, read more here. To get you or your organization involved in our next meal packing event, fill out our form here. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Feb 12, 2025 | Featured, In the News, News, Uncategorized
Courtesy of Naples Daily News.
Food insecurity is on the rise in the U.S, with more than 44 million living in “food insecure households.”
Meals of Hope, the popular meal packing charity, has achieved a milestone.
The Naples-based food charity hit an all-time high: 100 million meals have been packed.
It happened Sunday in Southbridge, Massachusetts, said Stephen Popper, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit agency.
Always with his eye toward his next goal, Popper said he hopes the organization can achieve packing 30 million meals a year.
Meals of Hope started in Collier in 2007 to serve the local community but the organization today coordinates meal packing events in communities throughout the U.S. and outside the country.
The packing events with tables lined up and huge plastic-lined boxes of the ingredients are big draws for volunteers with churches, schools, employers and civic groups to have fun and help others.
The organization has eight different meals with dried and fortified ingredients. When one bag is mixed with water and prepared, it can feed six to eight people.
Meals of Hope Runs 15 Food Pantries
Besides meal packing, Meals operates 15 food pantries a week in Lee and Collier, which includes baby food pantries.
Families can get formula, baby cereal, stage one to four baby food, fresh produce and meat. The baby pantries distribute diapers, bottles, bibs and other baby necessities.
A third way Meals helps tackle hunger is through its partnership with Pan Florida Challenge to source and distribute each month more than 10,000 weekend backpacks of food to the neediest elementary school children in Collier, Lee and Palm Beach counties.
The organization has 30,000 volunteers and 19 full and part-time staff.
Food insecurity in the U.S. is on the rise and inflation has fueled challenges for families.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported in its annual report last October that food insecurity increased from 10.2% in 2021 to 12.8% in 2022.
The data shows 44.2 million people are living in food insecure households in 2022, the latest year data is available. Of that, roughly 7.3 million are children.
Meals serves 4,000 people a week at its food pantries, Popper said.
“The reality is we have never been busier than we are right now,” he said.
Learn more about the organization at https://mealsofhope.org/ or call 239-537-7775. To get you or your organization involved in our next meal packing event, fill out our form here. We can’t wait to hear from you!
