Food insecurity has dramatically increased for millions of Americans in the wake of job losses, business closures and overdue rent payments brought about by the impact of the pandemic.
In the Bay Area, one in four kids is currently affected by hunger and food insecurity, including at least 18,000 children who rely on school meals for their daily nourishment. Those numbers are even more staggering in Oakland where nearly 30% of children face food insecurity. Meanwhile, the restaurant industry—which sustains 15.6 million jobs as the nation’s second-largest employer—has been decimated, creating an unprecedented challenge in our community.
In an effort to help close this gap, Ripple is proud to announce a $1 million gift to Eat. Learn. Play.—a non-profit founded by Stephen and Ayesha Curry to fight childhood hunger. To date, the partnership has allowed Eat. Learn. Play. to achieve its goal of reaching more than 130 local restaurants and provide more than 15 million meals, 2.5 million of which were prepared and distributed by the restaurants.
Ripple’s contribution has also helped save food service jobs and keep restaurants in Oakland open through World Central Kitchen, a non-profit that provides fresh meals to those in immediate need and sustains small businesses and local restaurants in the midst of the humanitarian crises.
“In partnership with Ripple, our program has engaged more than 100 Oakland restaurants, helping to save the jobs of 850 restaurant workers and prepare more than 2.5 million nutritious meals for food-insecure families,” says Chris Helfrich, President and CEO of Eat. Learn. Play. “Our work together is far from over, and we’re committed to helping individuals and families across the Bay Area in every way we can.”
Most recently, Eat. Learn. Play. hosted its annual Christmas with the Curry’s where Stephen and Ayesha Curry, along with volunteers from Ripple and other community partners, surprised approximately 1,000 low-income families from Alameda County with a holiday drive-thru distribution of food, gifts and essential resources. In partnership with World Central Kitchen, Ripple supplied local, family-style holiday meals and boxes of fresh, farm produce, a central feature of the drive-thru distribution.
As a mission-driven company with employees and customers around the world, Ripple is committed to helping communities impacted by the pandemic. Our continued partnerships with local meal providers and food banks have allowed us to provide meals for food-insecure families across San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
To learn more about Ripple Impact, visit www.ripple/com/impact.
