Support from Google’s philanthropy and Feeding America will help deliver meals and fuel long term, impact focused technology projects
RENO, NV – Today, Food Bank of Northern Nevada (FBNN) announced a partnership with Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, and Feeding America® to immediately deliver meals to families facing hunger and build long term technology solutions to scale their impact and provide their community with greater access to resources.
This announcement is part of a larger initiative from Google.org and Feeding America to help provide 50 million meals* to communities across the United States.
“Google and Feeding America’s generous partnership with the Northern Nevada Food Bank is critical to our community and the many families of Reno/Sparks that are feeling the impact of our current economy this season,” said Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve. “There isn’t a single family or person that should have to choose between their next meal and next month’s rent. We thank both organizations joint partnership efforts for their help in alleviating the many barriers to food insecurity.”
“I want to thank Google and Feeding America for their support of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. At a time when many of our families are struggling, the Food Bank continues to step up and do great work across the Truckee Meadows. Google is a great community partner and a welcome addition to our area,” said Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson.
Today, 34 million Americans, including 9 million children, are facing food insecurity. Among Feeding America network food banks, 90% report an increased or sustained need over the last month. Food banks themselves face mounting headwinds as food donations decline and costs rise for freight, food purchase and every other aspect of operations. Food Bank of Northern Nevada has seen this need first hand. The organization is seeing record numbers of people needing help and is currently assisting an average of 120,000 people each month.
“We are so grateful to Google.org for the partnership with our food bank and across the Feeding America network,” said Nicole Lamboley, president & CEO of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. “Our focus is always on delivering as many meals as we can to our neighbors facing hunger in the community, and partnerships supporting technology are so needed and welcome. Investments like these in our organization help us to be even more efficient.”
Google has seen the need reflected in Google Search Trends on a national and local level in Nevada. Nationally, Google sees a spike in searches for food support every November, but more than ever before, Americans are making searches around “food” and “prices” in 2022. They are also searching “how to give back” more than ever, with searches for “where to donate food near me” skyrocketing 850% over the past five years.
Specifically seen in Nevada search trends, the second top searched “how to apply” in Nevada in 2022 is “how to apply for food stamps” while Reno is the top metro area in the state searching for a food bank in Nevada this year.
“Addressing food insecurity requires a sustained and coordinated approach. We’re proud to partner with Feeding America to deliver over 50 million meals to people in need, and to work with them to strengthen their technology infrastructure,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. “We’re also making our products, like Search and Maps, more helpful to people searching for resources or ways to give back.”
Those who are interested in getting involved in solving hunger in their community have many ways to participate. The Food Bank of Northern Nevada needs volunteers to help sort and pack food as well as assist at distributions. Organizations and individuals can also participate in or hold food drives to collect donations for distribution. Food Bank of Northern Nevada will also receive donated Search Ads to connect people looking for help with resources, provide avenues for others to give back and drive food security awareness nationwide.
For more information about the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, visit fbnn.org.
*$1 helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America® on behalf of local member food banks.
About Food Bank of Northern Nevada
The Food Bank of Northern Nevada provides emergency food services to families through a network of more than 150 partner agencies in a 90,000 square mile service area throughout northern Nevada and the eastern slope of the sierra in California. The organization is seeing record numbers of people needing assistance and currently serves an average of 120,000 people each month. Last fiscal year, more than 17 million meals were provided to neighbors who face hunger. The Food Bank also plays a leading role in collaborating with other committed northern Nevada community members and organizations to address long term solutions to combat hunger.
About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 6.6 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
About Google.org
Google.org, Google’s philanthropy, brings the best of Google to help solve some of humanity’s
biggest challenges combining funding, product donations and technical expertise to support underserved communities and provide opportunity for everyone. We engage nonprofits and social enterprises who make a significant impact on the communities they represent, and whose work has the potential to produce meaningful change. We want a better world, faster — and we believe in leveraging technology and applying scalable data-driven innovation to move the needle.
