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Community Giveback (F.U.E.L. Cell Giveaway)

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On August 22, 2019, I will be turning 30 years-old and I would like for you to be apart of my community giveback campaign targeting food insecurity in Washington, D.C. The goal is to give out at least 300 (100 for each decade of my life) F.U.E.L. Cell bags to individuals in need. I would like to begin giving out F.U.E.L. Cell bags the day of my birthday and throughout the rest of August.

My Why?
Food is fuel for the body and without it we cannot function to our max potential. Imagine being a spectator at a drag strip to showcase the new 750 Hp Dodge Challenger and a 288 Hp Ford Taurus SEL. Most would think this to be a clearly one-sided quarter mile race for a plethora of reasons, notably the potential accelerating power and speed of the Challenger. The track race-lights strike green and both vehicles take-off, the Challenger off with exceptional quickness until a little less than midway down the track you hear brakes locking up and the Challenger coming to a screeching stop, meanwhile the Taurus passes along at its leisure and crosses the finish line to take the win. Everyone involved with the race is effected, from the engineers and mechanics who prepared the Challenger for the race to the spectators that bet on the Challenger to win with ease but lost all their money. You later find out that the Challenger had a fuel leak and it actually ran out of gas. Race policy states that whatever occurs after the starting light strikes green is official and the results stand. In the same manner as the motor vehicles mentioned above, the human body requires fuel in the form of food to function as it was made to do. In addition to that, science has shown that the type and quality of food effects the performance capability of the body. My company Glen’s Kitchen & Co, Inc., will be that new vessel bringing food and other life resources to those in need, whether homeless, going through financial hardship(s) or just lacking access to quality and healthy food sources in Washington, D.C.

Why I chose Washington, D.C. as the place to launch this initiative?

I have now been in Washington, D.C. for six years and this is where I now call home. There have been too many times when I am out in the city and I see children and adults asking passersby for food or rummaging through trash cans for something to eat or drink and I see this food insecurity as unacceptable for someone living in the Nation’s capital. In the District of Columbia, 76,550 people are struggling with hunger and of that number, roughly 26,500 are children, according to the Feeding America 2017 Map the Meal Gap study. That breaks down to 1 in 9 adults struggling with hunger, and 1 in 5 children struggling with hunger in the District of Columbia. When I think about the culture in my environment and what I can do to change the culture to impact the environment in a great way, addressing food insecurity is where I will begin.

What is Food Insecurity?

According to the USDA, food insecurity refers to of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food-insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household’s need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods.

The food insecurity rate in the District of Columbia is exacerbated by the high poverty rate and income inequality. D.C. has one of the highest poverty rates in the country, 18.6 percent, whereas the national average is 12.7 (2016 American Community Survey). Today, at a time when poverty rates are declining nationally and are returning to pre-recession levels, nearly one in five District residents live in poverty. In addition to the high poverty rate the District of Columbia has a higher level of income inequality than any state in the country, with households in the top 20 percent of income having 29 times more income than the bottom 20 percent. The bottom fifth of DC households had just two percent of total DC income in 2016, while the top fifth had a staggering 56 percent (DC Policy Center Research).


Glen’s Kitchen & Co, Inc., will address Food Insecurity through the distribution of F.U.E.L. Cells (food resource care package/bag) to homeless individuals, families going through hardship(s), people seeking better food options, and organizations committed to fighting hunger in Washington, D.C. These F.U.E.L. Cells will be handed out to people directly through Pit Stops (pop-up food stations by Glen’s Kitchen & Co, Inc.) and via local D.C. partners who are fighting homelessness and poverty in the area.

Why the name F.U.E.L. Cells?
Fuel cells are carriers of potential energy and when placed into a system (human body) a chemical reaction occurs and energy is released causing the system to do work.

Food
Ultimately = F.U.E.L.
Enables
Life

F.U.E.L. Cell contents:

$10-$12 Fresh Food Gift Card (SweetGreen, Chipotle, Chopt Creative Salad Co.)

Healthy Snacks/Food options for energy such as:

Emeralds Walnut & Almond Mix

Fresh, locally sourced Apples and peanut butter (Justin’s, Jif Natural)

Planters NUT-rition Energy or Protein Mix

Granola Bar (KIND, Kashi, LARABAR)

Bottle of Water (Mountain Valley Spring Water, VOSS, Evian, Essentia, etc.)

Dried Fruit (Mavuno Harvest Dried Fruit, Mariani Sun-Ripened Mixed Fruit, Steve’s PaleoGoods Dried Fruit, Naturebox)

Cracker and Protein Pack (Bumble Bee on the run Tuna or Chicken Salad)

Additional Contents:

Purell Hand Sanitizer

Shower Pill/Body Wipe

Colgate Mini Disposable Toothbrush

A word of encouragement/empowerment and information sheet on local food banks and organizations that are fighting poverty, income inequality, and homelessness in the District of Columbia so that F.U.E.L. Cell receivers can get additional assistance.

Filtered Reusable Water Bottle

Call To Action:

DO YOUR PART SO THEY CAN WITNESS (EAT).

Matthew 25:31-40

All Donations Welcome. If you would like to send actual products please contact me via email for more information.

F.U.E.L. Cells powered by Glen's Kitchen & Co, Inc. and You.

Thank you for all the support!

Organizer

Glen Watson
Organizer
Washington D.C., DC

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