Approximately 40 percent of food in the United States is thrown away. Factor in issues like homelessness and hunger, and the severity of the problem grows. A bright spot? Work being done by organizations like Silicon Valley’s Hunger at Home, which was created to bridge the gap between food and people who need it. Vulcan recently had the opportunity to partner with Hunger at Home to help them provide more food to homeless and hungry community members.
Here’s a closer look at what Hunger at Home does, why it matters so much, and how Vulcan is aiding the effort.
About Hunger at Home
Hunger is pervasive throughout the United States, including in Silicon Valley -- where nearly 720,000 people (one out of every four) are at risk of hunger. Rescuing food and supplies helps individuals and families gain access to the sustenance they need.
Enter Hunger at Home. Acting as a conduit between businesses and nonprofit communities, this nonprofit has donated 3.5 million meals to local communities while also helping to distribute essentials like kitchen items, towels, blankets, and hygiene kits. Hunger at Home also works with organizations that offer job training and placement within the same businesses which donate food.
In addition to fighting hunger, Hunger at Home’s efforts positively impact the environment by reducing the amount of waste in landfills. To date, the organization has diverted roughly 1,800 tons of food waste -- or 72 full garbage trucks! -- from local landfills. This reduces carbon emissions by 3.1 million kilograms -- like taking 670 cars off the road for an entire year -- and saves 2.25 billion gallons of water, enough to fill 3,400 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Vulcan and Hunger at Home
For the past 150 years, Vulcan has dedicated itself to producing exceptional commercial cooking equipment, empowering chefs to create the highest-quality food. We’re very grateful for the trust and support of our customers over the years, and we take pride in giving back.
In order to help Hunger at Home reach even greater numbers of people by increasing its output, we helped provide the organization with a convection oven. All of our extraordinary kitchen equipment is designed to help operators do more with less, and we can think of no better way to see this capability in action than as part of Hunger at Home’s vital operations. There’s also no better time than now to join in the fight against hunger due to the impacts of COVID-19 on food, housing and employment hardships.
Hunger at Home’s mission is a truly inspiring one, and we’re proud that we can play even a small part in helping them feed more families.