Blog

As we countdown to the new year, we reflect on all that we’ve been able to accomplish in the last 12 months. Here are our top proud moments of 2017 in the Hands for Hunger world.

This year, during our annual Food For Thought panel discussion, we hosted a thought-provoking conversation under the theme Feeding Dreams: Addressing Childhood Hunger in The Bahamas. We had both local and international experts present and open the floor for questions for attendees. 

In the spring, we challenged the public to dine on just $4.00 a day and share their experiences on social media. This awareness campaign drew attention to the reality of the 43,000 Bahamians that live on or below the poverty line who only have $4.00 to spend on food a day. 

For the first time ever we hosted 1,200 guests at our annual Paradise Plates event. It has been our largest fundraising event to date that will directly help us with operational costs including our primary food rescue program 6 days a week and other seasonal initiatives.

Expanding our reach to Bahamian youth, the Helping Hands School Clubs was introduced in seven schools at the beginning of the school year. As an extension of our voice, these clubs share information among their peers, organize fundraisers and partake in group volunteering with H4H. 

Earlier in the year, we hosted two international college students seeking to do their internships abroad. Theo and Lydia joined us in May to learn about how non-profits work and to help with all the projects we had lined up.

As a continuous goal to reduce food waste, we partnered with local farm Field to Fork by harvesting its excess crops and distributing them to our  17 partner outreach agencies and rotational agencies.

This year we’ve seen an increase in young people (under 18) stepping up and wanting to help out. A variety of fundraisers inspired and carried out by these young donors included food drives and bake sales which proceeds and canned good were donated to H4H.

During the summer, we hosted a weekly food and monetary drive to prepare for the hurricane season. As a result of this campaign, we were able to stock up our partner agencies, including the NPCC hurricane shelter, with canned goods in preparation for Hurricane Irma. 

After Hurricane Irma hit, we were fortunate enough in Nassau to be spared the brunt of the storm that positioned us in a way to offer more help to the southern islands. Along with the NPCC, we hosted another drive to send care packages back with each family housed at the NPCC shelter. 

Earlier this year, the Registrar General required that all non-profit organizations disclose their financial well being. This year we hired an accounting firm to oversee financials, an auditing firm to take a closer look and formally submitted all official audit reports to the Registrar General’s office in a timely manner. We encourage all of our supporters to check the financial section of our website for more information.

More than 200 children from H4H’s partner agencies and Helping Hands School Clubs were treated to a family-style Thanksgiving dinner hosted by H4H & NPCC. It was an opportunity for children from various backgrounds to find commonality and share a meal during the holiday season.

As we continue to rely on data & research to guide our efforts, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization released a Food Insecurity Experience Scale Survey that they recommend each country conduct. Hands For Hunger partnered with Public Domain to survey 1,000 residents in the hopes of determining where on the spectrum of food security we lie. The data was shared with The University of Delaware, The University of The Bahamas & One Eleuthera Foundation. 

This year we rescued 10% more food than last year. What’s even more impressive is that over 40% of the food rescued was categorized as a protein (meat, chicken or fish.) This food group is essential to a well-balanced diet. Thanks to all of our food donors, we’ve been able to add one rotational agency to our roster each month in addition to the 17 agencies we serve year round. 

After nine years on the road rescuing and delivering fresh surplus food we retired one of our food rescue trucks and purchased a newer larger model to usher in our 10th year anniversary.  Thanks to a generous sponsor, this new refrigerated truck will continue to be the driving force behind our six-day food rescue week.