Hunger Action Month inspires individuals and groups to find simple and creative ways to take action to fight hunger. During the month of September and throughout the year, companies and organizations can get involved and make a difference on behalf of their neighbors, and they do.
Battle Bros Events and Macy’s Millenia are just two examples of corporate partners engaging their team members and the community to raise funds, elevate awareness, and get hands-on by volunteering.
Battle Bros Knows Food Brings People Together for Good
The Orlando Booze & Bites Festival is a fun, community-driven celebration of food, drinks, and live music — all for a great cause.
Battle Bros Events is putting on the Sept. 13 festival at Festival Park in Orlando, and a portion of proceeds from ticket sales will support neighbors facing hunger through donations to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.
The $50 ticket includes unlimited drinks, live concerts, a game zone, and plenty of unique vendors to explore. All the “bites” at the festival are priced at $5 or less. There is also a VIP ticket option offered at $65, which includes early entry, free bites at the Wild Fork booth, specialty cocktails and more.
“Guests can sample bites from local restaurants and food trucks while enjoying a full day of entertainment,” said Hannah Gentry, Battle Bros’ Marketing Manager. “Best of all, every ticket sold helps support Second Harvest and their fight against hunger, so attending the festival also means helping neighbors.”
Though this is the first time Battle Bros and Second Harvest have worked together, Hannah said she is excited about it and anticipates an impactful partnership.
“We’ve always loved bringing people together around food, and Second Harvest does amazing work feeding families right here in Central Florida,” she said. “Partnering with them felt like a natural fit. Doing this during Hunger Action Month makes it even more meaningful, because it’s a time when we can really shine a light on the issue of hunger.”
Hannah said Battle Bros hopes to raise funds and awareness through this event and inspire people to get involved in helping neighbors who are facing hunger.
“Food is at the heart of everything we do, so it’s really important to us that everyone in our community has access to it,” she said. “Every ticket sold supports Second Harvest, and while you’re enjoying $5-or-less bites, live music, and drinks, you’re also making a difference.”
Taking Action by Volunteering Time
Macy’s has a companywide social impact and community service commitment called Mission Every One, in which local stores like Macy’s Millenia participate.
However, the team at the Mall of Millenia store gets involved at an even more hyper-local level.
“Our store has been at Second Harvest Food Bank multiple times over the last few years, and this has become our first-pick location anytime we get everyone geared up for volunteering,” said Lauren Russell, the Sales and Customer Service Manager at the store. “We have been to both [Orlando] locations doing a variety of shifts and bringing different colleagues from our store each time. We hope to be back soon and continue to grow our sign-up list, as we really enjoy our time and value the cause.”
The team’s most recent volunteer donation sorting shift included a mix of duties, from sorting food donations to bagging and boxing food for distribution and more. The 14 volunteers from Macy’s accomplished sorting enough food for about 12,000 meals in a 3-hour volunteer shift.
“Our experience at Second Harvest was amazing,” she said. “Taking action to fight hunger is important to us because we care about humanity and every individual having equal rights and access to food, quality of life, health and well-being. It is important for us to be a part of bringing positive change to our Orlando community and beyond, creating a better future and society where people are empowered and thriving.”
She said the Orlando community can fight hunger by taking action themselves, by volunteering and giving back their time and resources in the community.
They can also support Macy’s Millenia’s “local round up” campaign Oct. 16-31, for which the store has selected Second Harvest as the beneficiary.
“Every transaction at the registers during this time, customers will have the ability to “round up” their total amount to the nearest dollar and the proceeds will go to Second Harvest Food Bank,” Lauren said.
