Move For Hunger in The Arizona Republic | Move For Hunger

by?Luci Scott?- Dec. 23, 2012 10:05 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

When people move from a home, they often throw away perfectly good food that a hungry family would be grateful to have.

Now, some movers have begun collecting what homeowners leave and taking it to food banks.

The national campaign to reclaim non-perishable food started three years ago when New Jersey-based Lowy?s Moving Service began noticing that a lot of food was being wasted as people moved out of homes.

?We were in the home, packing up, and we started asking customers if we could pack up the food and bring it to a local food bank,? said Max Lowy, who with his brother, Adam, founded the non-profit Move for Hunger, which took off quickly.

?Within a month, we collected 300 pounds of food,? Max Lowy said.

Today, Move for Hunger works with more than 400 moving companies in 44 states and continues to add more. More than a million pounds of non-perishable food that otherwise would have been wasted has been taken to food banks and pantries.

A few months ago, Move for Hunger began a real-estate program, enlisting real-estate agents to enlighten their clients about the opportunity to donate food.

?A lot of people want to donate, but they don?t know how or where,? said Lowy, who directs the real-estate program. ?We?re all about education and awareness.?

So, real-estate agents involved with Move for Hunger tell their clients about hunger statistics.

In 2011, according to Feeding America, 50.1 million Americans lived in households that were ?food insecure,? a U.S. Department of Agriculture measure meaning a lack of access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. In Arizona, the food-insecurity rate was 19 percent overall and 29 percent for children.

Lowy of Move for Hunger said real-estate agents involved with the campaign have the opportunity to show their clients how easy it is to make adifference during their moves.

?The moving companies do the heavy lifting and the delivering to food banks,? Lowy said. The food is taken to a warehouse, and once a month or so, it?s dropped off at a food bank.

Lowy encourages real-estate agents to incorporate education about donating food when they list houses, give presentations, host open houses and send e-mails.

?We?re trying to keep it as simple as possible for everyone, especially for the customers, since moving is a stressful time,? Lowy said.

Mark Stark, CEO of Prudential, Americana Group, Realtors in Las Vegas and Prudential Arizona Properties, said that his company was the first real-estate organization to formally support Move for Hunger and that it has collected nearly 5 tons of food in Las Vegas and Arizona.

?We could not have done it without (Move for Hunger?s) support,? Stark said. ?They provided their relationships with the moving companies, who helped us tremendously.

?You want to help, and you want to support the communities you?re in, but it?s hard getting it orchestrated,? he added. ?Move for Hunger has created that vehicle for us to do it efficiently and effectively.?

Among the movers participating in Move for Hunger in Arizona is Tom Davidson, owner of Olympian Worldwide Moving, an agent for Allied Van Lines. He takes boxes of food his movers collect to St. Mary?s Food Bank.

?It?s for a good cause,? he said. ?Everybody has something in their pantry they haven?t used, and they?re going to clear things out. ? The program works very well.?

Movers lend hand

Arizona moving companies involved with Move for Hunger include:

Mesa

Berger Allied.

Mooney Movers Inc.

Phoenix

Berger Allied.

Olympian Worldwide Moving.

Beltmann Relocation Group.

Desert Sun Moving Services.

Dircks Moving Services.

Daniel?s Moving and Storage Inc.

Information:?moveforhunger.org.

Source: http://moveforhunger.org/move-for-hunger-in-the-arizona-republic/

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