The Atlanta Hawks are looking for volunteers to help fight local food insecurity.
“We are excited to invite all of Atlanta to volunteer with us and help us pack one million meals as we combat food insecurity in Atlanta,” said Steve Koonin, CEO of the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena.
According to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, nearly one-in-nine Georgians are living with food insecurity.
On Sept. 9, the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena are teaming up to help combat this statistic by hosting the second annual Million Meal Pack Initiative.
“We’re proud to host the third Million Meal Pack initiative and look forward to working side by side with our Atlanta neighbors to help those struggling with food insecurity,” said Dan Krause, senior vice president at State Farm.
Event organizers are looking for more than 5,000 volunteers to help assemble meals on Sept. 9.
The volunteers will gather at State Farm Arena to help prepare more than one million meals for distribution. The meals will reach local Atlantans through various community food bank organizations.
The meals from the event will be a nutritious, shelf-stable, dried Jambalaya mix that yields six servings.
Food assembly will require six, 90-minute meal-packing shifts with approximately 800 to 1,000 volunteers to reach the target number of meals.
“Together, we will make a tangible impact on the lives of countless individuals and families in need, and we encourage everyone to share the link with their networks and join us on Saturday, Sept. 9,” said Jon Babul, vice president of community impact and basketball programs of the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena.
As a thank you for completing a volunteer shift, participants can take part in an exclusive volunteer-only celebration. The celebration will be on State Farm Drive with games, refreshments and music.
The Million Meal Pack Initiative is held in support of U.S. Hunger, a national hunger relief organization.
In addition to this initiative, the Hawks and State Farm have led efforts in multiple community-focused initiatives, including:
- The Good Neighbor Club in College Park at the College Park Auditorium
- Events at the Ron Anderson Recreation Center in Cobb County
- Free pop-up grocery stores in partnership with Goodr Inc.
“The partnership between the Hawks and State Farm exemplifies our commitment to improving our community and neighbors in need,” added Koonin.
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