AmpleHarvest.org enhanced to address hunger and food waste on Native American Reservations nationwide.
NEWFOUNDLAND, N.J., October 10, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- AmpleHarvest.org, the nation's only cloud-based solution to hunger and food waste, has announced a new program for Indian Country as its "big and bold" commitment to the White House's goal of ending hunger in America by 2030. AmpleHarvest.org in Indian Country helps food pantries on Reservations receive donations of fresh food from nearby home/community gardeners.
AmpleHarvest.org connects America's 62 million gardeners with 8,000 participating food pantries. This program leverages billions of pounds of surplus harvests and the gardeners' desire to donate it.
According to executive director and founder Gary Oppenheimer, "As AmpleHarvest.org has expanded to more than 4,200 communities since 2009, we noticed some regions of the country where the model wasn't "taking hold" and this deeply concerned us. A closer look showed that much of this overlapped with Native American Reservations. We knew that hunger/nutrition were critical issues in many Reservations. Discussions with Tribal elders and indigenous food experts informed us that the tradition of sharing food was a value intrinsic to all Nations."
Based on guidance and help from people across many Reservations, AmpleHarvest.org pivoted from its previous "one size fits all" approach. AmpleHarvest.orgin Indian Country takes a proven model and adapts it to address the distinct circumstances found in Indian Country. Some of the circumstances include a unique food pantry model, the lack of traditional street addresses, and limited Internet access.
A critical part of this solution was partnering with an innovative location technology company called what3words. It has divided the world into 10 ft x 10 ft squares and given each square a combination of three words: a what3words address. what3words' technology enables AmpleHarvest.org to direct gardeners to a food pantry even if it does not have a traditional street address. Google and Bonnie Plants have helped to underwrite this program.
According to Chief Henry Red Cloud (Lakota) of Pine Ridge, a White House Champion of Change winner and key advisor and guide for this program, "I have watched Gary Oppenheimer and his team grow AmpleHarvest.org since 2009, helping thousands of food pantries get locally grown surplus harvests from nearby gardeners. When Gary came to me years ago asking for my help and guidance in making sure that this award-winning program could also benefit Indian Country, I was more than happy to help. This past year, he and his team have been guided by Tribal elders and Native American food sovereignty experts to adapt AmpleHarvest.org to our specific needs while also bringing in new technology to help address some challenges specific to some Reservations. AmpleHarvest.org is the perfect example of a program that enables people to take ownership of a problem and solve it without needing engagement from outside of their community or Nation."
"AmpleHarvest.orgin Indian Country is beginning a phased rollout focused on Reservations located in the southern states where gardening will continue later into the season. We will then welcome all Reservations nationwide starting in early 2023" noted Oppenheimer. "Our goal will be to ensure that every gardener in a Tribal community will be able to donate their surplus harvest for the rest of their gardening life."
About AmpleHarvest.org: AmpleHarvest.org, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization that's ending hunger and food waste nationwide by networking millions of home/community gardeners to thousands of local food pantries, each eager to receive and then distribute the grower's surplus harvest. For more information, visit http://www.AmpleHarvest.org/presskit or call AMPLE-6-9880 (267-536-9880).
About what3words: Co-founded in London in 2013 by Chris Sheldrick, what3words is a simple way to talk about precise locations. A what3words address is a human-friendly way to share very precise locations with other people or to input them into platforms and machines such as ride-hailing apps or e-commerce checkouts. It is optimized for voice input and contains built-in error prevention to immediately identify and correct input mistakes.
Media Contact
Gary Oppenheimer, AmpleHarvest.org, 1 267-536-9880, [email protected]
SOURCE AmpleHarvest.org
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