This is Rotary!!

ROTARY NEWS TO NOTE

About Outreach and Feed6

• Bill Kanatas and Chris Coyne co-founded the Feed6 (www.Feed6.org) movement in 2011 in the Chicago area as an expression of their support for local hungry and food insecure children, families, seniors, and veterans. 
• Over the years they have attracted dozens of corporations, congregations, civic organizations, and schools as financial sponsors - and hundreds of thousands of volunteers - to package and distribute over 5.5 million nutritious meals to neighbors. 
• All of this work has been in partnership with the internationally respected 501(C)(3) charity, Outreach (www.outreachprogram.org), which is accredited by Charity Navigator - and has been specifically honored at the White House by two US Presidents. 
• The 5,000 Daily Point of Light: On July 15, 2013, Kathy Hamilton and Floyd Hammer received the 5,000th Daily Point of Light Award at the White House from President George H. W. Bush, who created the award during his presidency, and President Barack Obama, who said of the winners, “If the purpose of this award is to celebrate Americans who work to make our country and world a better place - not for their own advantage or for any ulterior motive, but just to serve, pure and simple  - I cannot think of anyone more deserving that Kathy Hamilton and Floyd Hammer.”
• Since 2004, Outreach has been responsible for the packaging and distribution of over 675 million meals internationally. 
• In February, 2022, Outreach was designated by Rotary International as a "Collaborating Organization” - a distinction awarded to just 10 other organizations worldwide (https://www.rotary.org/en/collaborating-organizations).  

• Through our innovative mobile food packaging program, Outreach/Feed6 organizes meal packaging events - in church halls, school gyms, hotel ballrooms, corporate headquarters, and conference centers - drawing hundreds, sometimes thousands of volunteers, each prepared to donate time to package nutritious, protein and vitamin enriched meals for the hungry.
• Since our formation in 2011, Feed6 has co-hosted 114 meal packaging events in collaboration with dozens of partners - schools, churches, corporations, and civic organizations - with hundreds of thousands of volunteers. We know how to efficiently plan, host, and execute large gatherings that are smoothly flowing and celebratory.
• Responding to COVID, we re-engineered our production and sanitation procedures to ensure safety for our hosts and volunteers.  Since January, 2021we co-hosted 14 major meal packaging events totaling 750K meals produced safely by thousands of volunteers.  This included an enormous event at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in January, 2022 during which we packaged 125K meals with nearly 400 volunteers over three shifts - without a single reported transmission. 
• Healthy & Nutritious: Meals are flavorful, nutritious, with a shelf life of two years.  For American consumers, Outreach offers pasta & cheese, pasta marinara (red basil sauce), and rice & beans, and an array of other delicious entrees  – all fortified with soy protein, vitamins, and nutrients – to constitute full, healthy meals, developed for Outreach by nutrition researchers at Iowa State University as part of a lean cuisine lifestyle that promotes vitality and retards malnutrition or obesity. 
• Packaging events are fun and entertaining – always with high-vibe music, and sometimes a live DJ – an extraordinary way to share spirit and time with friends, family, and colleagues of all ages and backgrounds - and to extend love to those in need.
• Meal Distribution: Virtually all of our meals are distributed through local food banks, homeless shelters, veterans residences, and soup kitchens to hungry and food insecure children, families, seniors, and veterans.  We have formed partnerships with established nutrition agencies, such as the Northern Illinois Food Bank, The Chicago Food Depository, the Salvation Army, and Project Hope for local distribution - and Convoy of Hope of Springfield, MO for delivery to Ukrainian refugee centers in Eastern Europe. 
• For the cost of the typical Starbucks latte, a volunteer can feed 15 hungry or food insecure children, adults, veterans, or seniors.  Join us in giving the gift of nutrition to neighbors in need.