Entrepreneur Tony Robbins, a bestselling author, philanthropist and the world’s #1 life and business strategist, together with Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States, today announced that they are closer than ever to their multi-year goal of helping provide 1 billion meals to people experiencing food insecurity.
Eight years into the 10-year campaign, Robbins and Feeding America, through their 1 Billion Meals Challenge, are well ahead of schedule having already helped provide 914 million meals to people facing hunger across the United States.
Despite this amazing achievement, so much more is required to combat hunger and support the food banks and relief organizations filling the basic, life sustaining need of providing meals for families.
In the United States alone, nearly 34 million people, including more than 9 million children, are food insecure. Access to regular, nutritious meals is growing increasingly difficult with food prices near-record highs and higher fuel and commodity costs continuing to rise, making food more expensive to raise, store, process, and transport.
Food costs continue to take a larger chunk of family budgets. Currently, low-income U.S. households spend nearly one-third of their budget on food, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Government data reveals groceries are costing families 10 percent more this year than last with certain perishable and protein items like meats, fish, poultry and eggs up even more.
“Solving the big challenge of ending mass hunger and food insecurity in a substantiable way is my lifelong mission and passion. Tragically, the number of severely food insecure people remains unacceptable, having only grown since before the pandemic despite more than enough food existing to feed everyone on the planet.” Robbins said. “Human beings should not needlessly go hungry. Collectively we must get food to people who need it and do not have the means to secure it for themselves or their families.”
In the United States, rising food prices, supply chain issues and the expiration of added pandemic-era government food assistance for families are forecast to continue the challenges food banks and relief organizations are facing in the year ahead.
“This year the 1 Billion Meals Challenge surpassed an incredible milestone: 900 million meals for neighbors living with hunger,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. “We are so grateful to Tony and all who joined in to achieve this level of contribution. In Tony, what could be—and should be—comes to life. His vision and leadership in the cause of hunger relief do more than inspire; they plant seeds in others who take up the challenge to perform life-changing and life-sustaining acts of kindness.”
Supporting people facing hunger is a lifelong mission of Robbins, whose struggling family was provided bags of food at Thanksgiving by a well-meaning neighbor when he was a child. Robbins became a Feeding America ambassador more than a decade ago. Through that partnership, Robbins and Feeding America initially launched the 100 Million Meals Challenge, only to increase their already ambitious initial goals four years later by turning their campaign into the 1 Billion Meals Challenge. To date, the campaign partnership has raised funds to help provide more than 900 million meals to individuals and families experiencing food insecurity in the United States through the Feeding America network of 200-member food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs.
Through the Challenge, every dollar raised helps provide at least 10 meals* through the Feeding America network of food banks. All donations to the 1 Billion Meals Challenge can then be matched by Robbins’ annual leadership gift. Proceeds from his three most recent best-selling books: Life Force: How New Breakthroughs in Precision Medicine Can Transform the Quality of Your Life & Those You Love; MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom and Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook, and gifts from other donors answering Robbins’ call for support also help financially sustain the effort. Additionally, Robbins has been instrumental in inspiring individuals and corporations throughout the United States to support the cause and has played a key role in helping to attract new donors to the organization annually.
