HOLA ERG volunteers tackle food insecurity in the US
By Ange Loiseau, Clorox Social Impact Team
Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, teammates who are part of our HOLA employee resource group demonstrated their commitment to combatting food insecurity, a pressing issue affecting Hispanic communities across the U.S. Their efforts — which included more than 190 hours of volunteer service — spanned multiple Clorox locations, including the San Francisco Bay Area; Alpharetta, Georgia; Durham, North Carolina; and Sunrise, Florida.
California
In Alameda County, where 1 in 4 residents faces food insecurity and 13% of the Hispanic population in California is affected, HOLA teammates packed 16,258 pounds of food, equivalent to 13,494 meals, at Alameda County Community Food Bank. Their work supported local efforts to alleviate hunger, with the food bank distributing enough food to serve 60,000 people daily. Over 40% of the food bank’s clientele are Latinos residing in the nearby communities of West Oakland and East Oakland and in the corridors of Hayward, San Leandro and Newark. This substantial percentage underscores the impact we can make right in our local neighborhoods. The Bay Area team is dedicated to making this an annual event with the goal of continually helping fight hunger in the community.
Florida
In Sunrise, where 10% of the Hispanic population experiences food insecurity, HOLA teammates sorted, packed and palletized 6,000 meals, supporting Feeding South Florida‘s efforts to address this issue.
North Carolina
In the 10th-hungriest state in the U.S., 17% of the Hispanic population faces food insecurity. Our HOLA teammates in Durham packed 1,500 pounds of food, enough to feed 225 families meals, furthering the impact of the local food bank. In Inter-Faith Food Shuttle‘s seven-county service area alone, more than 222,000 people are food insecure, and the efforts of our volunteers helped address this pressing need.
Georgia
In Alpharetta, where 12% of the Hispanic population faces food insecurity, members of HOLA sorted and packed 10,000 pounds of food, equivalent to 8,264 meals, supporting the Atlanta Community Food Bank‘s mission to combat hunger.
The Clorox Company Foundation extended these efforts through $65,000 in contributions to all four local food organizations. An additional $95,000 was donated to help address hunger experienced by children in the summer months. During that time, millions of children lack consistent access to food because they rely on nutrition programs through their schools, leaving them without reliable access to food. The foundation also made donations on behalf of our teammates to food organizations in six other Clorox communities.