Project Background

 

With the generous support of TC Energia, through its social impact program, Build Strong, WFI is piloting a food rescue program in Veracruz, one of the most underserved regions in the country. 

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Women and girls are the most vulnerable demographic worldwide to food insecurity. Statistics show that at least twenty to thirty million or more people experience food insecurity in Mexico. Currently, a diverse group of civil society organizations work to address this problem. Despite these efforts, the efficiency, collaboration, and impact of Mexico’s food rescue programs can be significantly improved through a robust, volunteer-based community program that incorporates and coordinates public and private partnerships.

 

Women Forward International (WFI) is expanding its collaboration with White Pony Express (WPE), a pioneering volunteer-powered nonprofit organization with a mission to eliminate hunger and poverty by delivering the abundance all around us to those in need—with love.

 

In addition, a conglomeration of Mexican businesses, including COPARMEX, the Consejo Coordinador de Mujeres Empresarias, and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico are exploring how they can support the project through in kind, financial, and volunteer contributions. 

 

Through the sponsorship of TC Energia, WFI is curating vital research from leading universities in Mexico to launch a far-reaching food security program in Mexico. Our student team at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) is in the process of creating a feasibility study and implementation plan designed for Veracruz. 

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Objective 

 

To bring together beneficial organizations in Mexico, United States, and Canada to address a gap area in food security by enhancing existing channels, including food banks, and providing a volunteer-powered organizational model that is sustainable to directly and efficiently serve the needs of those most vulnerable, especially women and girls, in Mexico.

 

Deliverables

 

In Phase I of our program, we will undertake a feasibility and needs assessment, identify the priority region and city, and create an action plan to bring an efficient and effective new food rescue model to Mexico based on the notion that we are “one human family.”

 

In Phases II and III, WFI and the university teams will continue to develop the program through direct implementation and strategy for making the program sustainable. The team’s deliverables will include the  identification and outreach to the most appropriate partners in terms of restaurants, supermarkets, other types of businesses, transportation and storage resources, and volunteer networks required to address the needs of those who experience food insecurity in Mexico, especially women and girls. 

 

Impact

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By partnering action oriented university student research teams alongside organizations that bring about economic and social transformation for the common good, WFI can have dramatic impact both on the next generation of leaders and the beneficiaries with whom they are working to bring about a new world based on the principle of shared abundance.

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Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

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This programs contributes to ten out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and have the capacity to uplift tens of thousands of impoverished women and men and their families in the country. 

·    2: Zero Hunger

·    3: Good Health and Well-Being

·    5: Gender Equality

·    6: Clean Water & Sanitation

·    8: Decent Work & Economic Growth

·    9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure

·    12: Responsible Consumption & Production

·    13: Climate Action

·    14: Life Below Water

·    15: Life on Land

 

Background on White Pony Express

 

Based in the California Bay Area, WPE serves 120,000 people each year by partnering with more than 80 non-profit agencies who have strong ties to the community. The rescue program at WPE has expanded this model by subjecting all collected food to a meticulous culling process and promising that it is obtained, sorted, and redistributed within a twenty-four-hour time period—seven days a week. They have won numerous awards in California for their unique template and volunteer-based model, are currently spreading the model in three other U.S. cities, and have participated with a white paper in President Biden’s White House Summit on Food Security in September 2022.