Champions of Change

Champions of Change Blog

  • Advocating to End Food Insecurity

    Posted by Kathy Goldman on September 11, 2012 at 2:07 PM EDT

    Kathy GoldmanKathy Goldman is being honored as a Champion of Change for strengthening food security. 

    I am thrilled to have been selected as a White House Champion of Change, but please know that I am here representing the many, many advocates and activists who have worked and continue to work so hard day in and year out to make a real difference in the lives of so many, especially the two million New Yorkers living in poverty.

    One thing I believe about Americans is that we can't stand seeing our neighbors go hungry. No one wants to see again the endless breadlines and starving children that we saw in the Great Depression. And so, especially since the 1960's, several federal food assistance programs are now in place to provide a safety net for needy families including SNAP, National School Breakfast and Lunch, the Summer Food Service Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and WIC. The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) also provides a crucial boost to low-income families.

    But the fight against hunger is never over. Advocates from every corner of the United States work tirelessly each day to ensure that basic needs of children, senior citizens, families and individuals are met. For example, nearly 2 million people in New York City live in poverty and 1.9 million receive SNAP benefits which often do not last the entire month. The Food Bank for New York City steps in and serves over 1,000 service providers, who in turn provide meals to 1.5 million people annually. The Food Bank for New York City distributed 65 million pounds of food last year, including federally purchased surplus food. But without the foundation of SNAP benefits, it would be impossible for food banks, pantries, and soup kitchens to fill the gap and provide enough food to meet the need. 

    And where would we be without the WIC program that provides healthy foods to pregnant women, and infants and children up to five years old? 50% of all babies born in the United States utilize WIC. The program was developed in response to the shocking infant mortality statistics in the United States, as well as to prevent low birth weight and premature babies.  We and many advocates throughout this country work tirelessly to make sure eligible women and children use this program.  

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  • Following My Purpose

    Posted by Joshua Williams on September 11, 2012 at 11:46 AM EDT

    Joshua WilliamsJoshua Williams is being honored as a Champion of Change for strengthening food security. 

    I would like to thank the White House for giving me this prestigious award and the chance to let everyone be more aware about hunger since it is such a big deal in the world. We as a country need to help and support each other. My mission is not only to help and make a difference, but more importantly to make people aware of what hunger and poverty is.

    I started my foundation when I was almost five years old. My story starts when I was on my way to church on a Sunday morning. When I was about to leave, my amazing grandmother gave me twenty dollars to do whatever I wanted with it. On the way to church, I was thinking about all the possible things I could buy with the money. But when we were stopped at a red light, that was the moment when I saw the homeless, hungry man who changed my life forever. I saw him and I knew I had to give him my twenty dollars. Not only was it for a good cause, but it would help him in whatever way it could.

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  • United Against Infant Mortality

    Posted by Dr. Claudia Llanten on September 11, 2012 at 11:28 AM EDT

    Dr. Claudia LlantenDr. Claudia Llanten is being honored as a Champion of Change for strengthening food security. 

    I first became involved in the United Against Infant Mortality/Unidos Contra La Mortalidad Infantil project in Peru in January of 2010. The project is a partnership between the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), Bon Secours Health System, CHRISTUS Health and Caritas del Peru. The goal is to decrease morbidity and mortality in children less than five years of age in three key regions of Peru where Catholic healthcare networks have established health ministries. I volunteered to perform the baseline evaluation project and spent a few weeks in Peru carrying out the initial assessments. I loved everything about the project; it really focused on a major gap in parental involvement with their children’s health and nutrition, it was community-based, and the project offered the economic and food security support that was needed to enable these parents to put what they learned into action.

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  • Paying it Forward to Build Food Security

    Posted by Erik Schultz on September 11, 2012 at 11:11 AM EDT

    Erik SchultzErik Schultz is being honored as a Champion of Change for strengthening food security. 

    At the global level, perhaps no issue is as fundamental to poverty alleviation as food security. Technological and agricultural innovations, along with increased governmental and philanthropic assistance, have all contributed to improving global food security. However, new approaches are continually needed to ensure our ever-expanding global population will be able to sustain itself. Socially responsible small businesses are one often-overlooked contributor to food security.

    Thriive, a nonprofit organization I helped launch in 2010, pursues an innovative approach to food security in diverse worldwide locations such as Vietnam, Kenya, Palestine, and Nicaragua. We focus on the growth needs of small-scale agricultural and food products businesses such as smallholder farms and livestock operations, greenhouses, nurseries, and food processing and distribution businesses. Helping such small businesses grow makes the entire food chain, from producers to consumers, more resilient and self-reliant. Thriive first provides capital for production and distribution equipment to facilitate business growth and job creation. Small businesses repay their capital loans not to Thriive, but by donating an equivalent value of in-kind products, services, or job training to the most vulnerable members of their community. This pay-it-forward approach not only enables small agricultural businesses to boost output, but also ties their business success to enhancing the food security of impoverished local populations through their donations.

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  • Working Together to Give Children a Healthy Start

    Posted by Jovita Flores on September 11, 2012 at 11:11 AM EDT

    Jovita FloresJovita Flores is being honored as a Champion of Change for strengthening food security. 

    As a mother, I know that healthy children are better prepared to learn and succeed in school. As a neighbor, I know that we can only change our community by working together. These two simple lessons have helped me connect with parents to make sure that our children have the healthy food they need to succeed at school. I’m honored to be recognized as a White House Champion of Change for this work, and I want to recognize all the mothers and fathers of Parents United for Healthy Schools/Padres Unidos para Escuelas Saludables who have raised their voices and worked together for our children’s health.

    I got involved in this work because of my own worries about my family -- I have a history of diabetes in my family and was concerned about my kids’ health. So I started asking other moms: are you concerned too? I was surprised when I heard nearly every mom tell me she was worried about the same thing. When I looked around, I realized that childhood obesity is a real problem in our community, more than in some others. At the same time, I saw the economic crisis hit our neighborhood hard. We have a lot of low-income families, and it was hard for people to put food on the table every day. But we have to do more than give our kids food -- we need to make sure it’s healthy food and that it gives them the energy they need to run around and to focus in school. We all want a bright future for our children, and it starts with making sure they are healthy and have the nutrition and energy to succeed.

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  • Food – People – Power

    Posted by Dana Harvey on September 11, 2012 at 11:04 AM EDT

    Dana HarveyDana Harvey is being honored as a Champion of Change for strengthening food security. 

    I so proudly and humbly accept this Champion of Change award on behalf of the residents, farmers, business owners and leaders who I work with every day to improve food security, community health and community well-being. The work that I am being recognized for is truly “our” work. It requires the dedication, commitment and strength of an extended community effort.

    I believe that community change happens from within. People know what the challenges are in their communities and how to solve them. In disinvested communities, however, access to resources to implement solutions is limited, inequitably distributed or non-existent. Shifting this resource dynamic to invest directly in human capital, skills and entrepreneurship of residents to build local food systems and local food economies is the core of my work.

    Fueled by innovation and with minimal resources, Mandela MarketPlace in Oakland, CA supports and operates a successful community-directed and community-owned local food system that includes a cooperative grocery retail, local produce distribution center, produce service for corner markets, network of urban production farms and a youth leadership program that is a model for other communities. We employ 21 residents in jobs while also creating business ownership opportunities. We have distributed over 250,000 pounds of fresh produce into a “food desert” community and we continue to distribute thousands of pounds per month. We nurtured 20 youth, and continue to nurture additional youth, from high school to college and into entrepreneurial and career paths. And, we improve the health and well-being of hundreds of people daily.

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