ATLANTA – Today the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm announced the team’s largest service initiative, a commitment to rally the community for a Million Meal Pack event on Saturday, July 16 at the award-winning State Farm Arena. The organizations are seeking more than 5,000 volunteers to help assemble one million meals that will be distributed throughout the metro Atlanta area with the operational support of U.S. Hunger, a hunger relief organization with innovative programs designed to help feed people struggling with food insecurity. Statistics provided by the Atlanta Community Food Bank show that nearly one in eight Georgians are living with food insecurity, including one in six children.
Beginning today, volunteer registration is open to the public at Hawks.com/mealpack. Each person that completes a volunteer shift will receive a free t-shirt, along with a voucher for a free pair of tickets to an upcoming Hawks home game. Exact game dates will be available following the release of the 2022-23 season schedule.
“The partnership between the Hawks and State Farm is rooted in a commitment to improving our community,” said Steve Koonin, CEO of the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena. “We are excited to invite all of Atlanta to volunteer with us and help us pack one million meals as we make a monumental effort to fight food insecurity locally.”
As part of this one-day initiative, the Hawks and State Farm are asking employee and community groups, schools, churches, sororities, fraternities, and local businesses, along with individuals ages five and up to register for at least one shift on Saturday, July 16. Those in attendance will be volunteering alongside influencers from the worlds of sports, entertainment, government, and business, during a fun-filled day with music, performances, free swag and more suitable for the entire family.
"Giving back and strengthening communities are deeply embedded in State Farm's culture," said Dan Krause, Southeastern Market Area Senior Vice President at State Farm. “As we celebrate our organization’s 100th anniversary, we look forward to once again joining our local State Farm agents, employees, the Atlanta Hawks and the Atlanta community in the fight to reduce food insecurity in this incredible city."
The food assembly will require six 90-minute meal-packing shifts with approximately 700-900 volunteers as part of each shift to reach the target number of meals. The meals from the event will be a nutritious, shelf-stable, dried Jambalaya mix that yields six servings when prepared. After completing a volunteer shift, they will be invited to participate in a post-volunteer celebration on State Farm Drive that will have games, refreshments, music and fun.
The Hawks and State Farm hosted their first Million Meal Pack in 2019, where more than 5,000 volunteers filled the arena and prepared over one million meals. The meals were then distributed to local Atlantans through seven community food bank organizations.
“We are extremely proud to come together again with State Farm to provide nutritious meals for our neighbors in need through Million Meal Pack,” said Andrea Carter, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena. On July 16, many will come together to make a difference in the lives of those without reliable access to affordable, nutritious food. We encourage everyone to share the link with their networks and join us.”
The Hawks and State Farm have led efforts in multiple community-focused initiatives to better serve Metro Atlanta. In addition to Million Meal Pack, the two organizations have collaborated on high-impact endeavors such as providing free pop-up grocery stores in partnership with Goodr Inc., for elderly and underserved citizens in Metro Atlanta. Additionally, they partnered to enhance the Snack Pack Program, giving over 24,000 snack packs to youth throughout the school year and during summer break.
For more information and to register for the Hawks and State Farm’s Million Meal Pack visit Hawks.com/mealpack.