Feds Feed Families: A Campaign to Feed Our Community

JSC’s 2020 Feds Feeds Families campaign is kicking off today through Aug 28!  This year, there is a greater need for food donations due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on families.  Did you know that there are almost 2.75 million people in our local communities who are potentially food insecure?  In addition to this increase in demand, summer food donations traditionally are lower than other parts of the year. Because of all of these factors, the need for our participation is greater than ever! As a community, we can make a profound difference for Houston and Galveston families during this time.

You may be wondering how we are going to conduct a food drive when most all of us are working remotely. Well, this year’s campaign is being carried out virtually! There is an enhanced emphasis on online donations so that we can all be safe in our giving.

How to Donate:

As always, your participation is entirely voluntary. However, if you choose to participate, the following are ways in which you may contribute:

•      Donate online by purchasing food (reference the included list) via an online grocer and having it delivered/shipped to the local food bank or pantry of your choice.

•      Drop off donations at your local pantry.

•      Plant-A-Row:  Plant an extra row of food in your garden or harvest unwanted produce from neighborhood gardens and donate to local food banks or pantries

•      Participate in warehouse or field gleaning

•      To locate a local food bank or pantry, visit at https://ampleharvest.org/fff

Recording your Donation

Once donations are made, record your donation using the online self-reporting tool found at the FFF Hub. All donations will be tracked by the Johnson’s Feds Feeds Families Campaign chair. At the hub, you will also learn more about getting involved, locating gleaning events, and sharing success stories.

Please note that federal ethics regulations prohibit FFF coordinators from soliciting monetary donations directly for pantries or food banks; however, if an employee makes an unsolicited monetary donation to a food bank or food pantry, the employee can record their gift to the FFF Hub by selecting  drop-down option “Unsolicited monetary donation to hunger organization.” Monetary donations are converted to pounds of food at a rate of five (5) pounds per dollar donated.

Goal:

Johnson aims to collect at least 40,000 pounds of perishable food and household items for pantries and food banks in our local area. Think — that amount of food roughly equals three adult elephants or 25,000 meerkats! However, if everyone contributes a few pounds, the goal will be easily met. 

Stuff the Truck:

The campaign will include a drive-by, no contact, stuff-the-truck event at Gilruth Center on Friday, Aug 21 for the Galveston County Food Bank. Your food and household donations will go straight from your trunk to the large food bank truck. 

So, start shopping online or scouring your pantries, itemize your grocery lists, and begin planning for our success! It took a team to get NASA to the Moon — and it will take the same to feed local communities in need.

For more information contact Dr. Camille Alleyne at camille.alleyne@nasa.gov