• Other Global Locations
  • Search
Host an Event
Donate

Give Back This Giving Season: 5 Ways to Help End Hunger!

on  December 13, 2019

It’s the holiday season, the season of giving! If you’re looking for a way to give back and deepen your impact this holiday season and beyond, there’s a myriad of ways you can help Rise Against Hunger carry out our mission of ending hunger in our lifetime! Unbox HopeWhen our beneficiaries unbox the Rise Against Hunger meals in-country, the meals are more than just food”” they’re also a representation of hope and brighter futures for all who receive them! Through donating today, you can help communities worldwide unbox hope!VolunteerIf you’ve ever been to a Rise Against Hunger Experience meal packaging event, you know there’s a lot that goes into packaging the meals. There’s plenty going on behind the scenes at our 28 U.S locations in order to have these events happen without a hitch. You can help support our meal packaging operations by becoming a local volunteer! You would help our locations with various tasks, like restocking supplies, preparing shipments before they’re sent to our partners, or organizing equipment and ingredients. No matter what task you do when you volunteer, you can know you’re making an impact and helping people in need around the world!To learn more about the volunteer opportunities at our U.S. locations, fill out our volunteer interest form!  Apply to be an Event Support SpecialistIf you’re looking for a way to help, consider applying to our Event Support Specialists program! It’s a great opportunity to make an impact and show your passion for ending world hunger. As an Event Support Specialist, you will help with a variety of event-related responsibilities. You would prepare and breakdown events, facilitate events, manage volunteers, and provide other support as needed. Positions are available at several locations across the country, from California to Florida to New York and loads of locations in between! To apply for the Event Support Specialists program, visit our Careers page!Host a Rise Against Hunger ExperienceYou can help end hunger with your school, church, business, or organization by hosting a Rise Against Hunger Experience meal packaging event! Your volunteer group would truly be “lending a hand” as you package rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and vitamins into bags that will then be distributed to people in need across the globe. Groups of all sizes and ages can participate in the Rise Against Hunger Experience!Sign up for Amazon SmileSmall actions can have a huge impact, too! Amazon Smile allows you to give back when you’re shopping online. If you shop directly through the Amazon Smile website, 0.5% of your eligible purchase price will be donated to a charity of your choice. All you have to do is go to www.smile.amazon.com, search for Rise Against Hunger to add us as your official non-profit, and then you’re all set to make an impact while you shop!We’re so thankful for everyone who has joined the movement to end world hunger! Whether you’ve donated, volunteered, or packaged meals, your actions have had an impact!

About the Author

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.