Food insecurity is a common issue in America with 42 million adults and 13 million children going hungry every day. The COVID-19 pandemic greatly exacerbated this issue. Already vulnerable populations, including the 29 million children who normally receive free/reduced cost meals at school, nearly 9 million food-insecure seniors and 500,000+ people experiencing homelessness, were tragically joined by hundreds of thousands who lost jobs during the pandemic and became food insecure for the first time.
Fortunately, Assurant, a core charitable partner of Move For Hunger since 2019, hosted their second annual, Turning Miles Into Meals Challenge, from May 10 to June 6, 2021 to help our organization provide meals to support those in need and reaffirm their commitment to fighting hunger. 2,200+ employees, as a part of 44 teams, participated in socially distanced activities over the month’s long challenge including swimming, walking, running, cycling, yoga, and more. Daily and weekly challenges, leaderboards, and conversational chat, and photos motivated the participants, who logged their miles using the fitness-based app MoveSpring. Every step, mile, and minute of activity helped to provide meals for those in need.
With the support from the Assurant Foundation, Assurant participants surpassed the Challenge’s initial goal of completing 75,000 miles to be able to provide more than 128,000 meals. Instead, over the course of the Challenge, more than 128,000 miles were logged collectively and an incredible $128,735 was raised to support Move For Hunger. This generous donation will allow us to provide over 321,800 meals to those in need!
“Being there to help others especially in times of need and working to strengthen the communities we serve is the heartbeat of our Assurant Cares commitment,” said Mike Campbell, president, Global Housing, Assurant. “Our team’s enthusiastic support of the critical work of Move For Hunger is one more way we bring our purpose to life while also enhancing our own wellbeing by moving to end hunger.”
We thank Assurant’s employees, the company and the Assurant Foundation for their support in helping feed their local communities in need.
Interested in fighting hunger? You can donate, sign up to fundraise, or start a food drive.
