Year to Date Impact Numbers through December 31, 2020
  • 46 Million Pounds of Food Collected and Distributed
  • 138 Million Servings of Fresh Produce Provided
  • 23,140 Passionate Volunteers Engaged
  • 6,142 Events to End Hunger Held
  • 2,106 Agencies Received Food
This story tells how SoSA's partners, volunteers, and donors
delivered dozens of blessings to families across the country.
In addition to fruits and vegetables, The Society of St. Andrew’s (SoSA’s) Gleaning Network rescued and shared a variety of good foods in 2020.

While the types of foods varied, the majority of SoSA’s distributed food was, as always, fresh and nutritious.

Healthy food has always been at the heart of the mission.

It’s written into the SoSA mission statement— "...Bring people together to harvest and share healthy food, reduce food waste, and build caring communities by offering nourishment to hungry neighbors."
Over 95% of food distributed by SoSA
was healthy and nutritious (click to enlarge)
One of the many fresh, healthy foods
shared through SoSA’s Gleaning Network in 2020 was eggs!
Many poultry farms and producers donated eggs to help feed American families struggling with hunger. They came from many locations, including North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.

One egg producer made its first donation in the summer of 2020, in the Piedmont area of North Carolina. That one producer continued through the end of the year and donated an average of 600 dozen eggs each week.

Those donated dozens put 3,000 servings of good food, each week, on the tables of families who needed it most.
SoSA staff coordinated many egg deliveries
Many people find joy in sharing food with others
SoSA did not do this alone. Several agencies worked with SoSA's Gleaning network and transported, processed, and repackaged the bulk egg donations. 

People worked together as a community and that made it possible for a single source of fresh eggs to bless an entire region. 

However, in a typical 2020 fashion, something unexpected happened. A simple loose thread threatened to unravel this beautiful blanket of provision— packaging material costs.

When the producer donated its eggs, it also donated boxes, cartons, and disposable packaging materials.
Over 50 dozen eggs fill a refrigerator
at a food pantry in Tennessee
These packaging materials were single-use only, 
due to food safety guidelines. 

Even if the local partners cleaned and returned the cartons and crates to the production facility, it was not allowed.

In fact, many pantries needed additional materials to repackage the bulk boxes, containing 30 dozen eggs, into small cartons suitable for individual families.

This is the part where SoSA’s passionate partners, volunteers, and donors saved the day! 
Volunteers in NC packed eggs into smaller cartons
Volunteers helped in multiple ways. They transported eggs to nearby agencies and individuals in the community.

They carefully sorted the eggs into family-sized cartons at recipient agencies. And many others helped deliver and distribute these donated dozens to families who might otherwise have gone without. 

Donors also gave generously when called upon! Among other things, financial donations helped cover the packaging costs necessary to get that good food where it was needed most.

Those dollars put good food onto the tables of families in multiple communities across the country.
Volunteers went all in for SoSA
and served in a variety of ways
Would you like to know more about the nutritional value of eggs?
What’s even more amazing is that stories just like this one, unfolded successfully in dozens of states and hundreds of communities across the country, thanks to the generosity of SoSA ‘s many partners, volunteers, and donors. 

In each location, food was rescued and shared with people during their most hopeless moments, and it was because a handful of willing people came together as a community. 

And now, as a new year begins, the crisis hasn't ended, but neither have the donations of healthy food.
Eggs being prepped and inspected in Georgia
And because of that, you’re invited to join this national mission to bring people together to harvest and share healthy food, reduce food waste, and build caring communities by offering nourishment to hungry neighbors, in 2021.

Use the buttons below to take your next step! 

Click “Give” if you want to make a difference by donating dollars. 

“Serve” if you want to get your hands dirty in service to get food where it’s needed most. 

Use “Learn” to read more about the problems of hunger and food waste.
SoSA established new gleaning guidelines
in 2020 that included masks and distancing
And finally, click “Lead” if you want to use your knowledge and experience, from giving and serving with SoSA, to build up others in the mission.
Are you ready to grow with The Society of St. Andrew?
Envisioning a world without hunger, in which physical and spiritual hungers are met by God's abundance and grace through Jesus Christ, the Society of St. Andrew brings people together to harvest and share healthy food, reduce food waste, and build caring communities by offering nourishment to hungry neighbors. The Society of St. Andrew is a 40-year old national nonprofit hunger-relief ministry that improves the environment by keeping good food out of landfills and feeds hungry people by sharing rescued fruits and vegetables with front-line feeding agencies (soup kitchens, shelters, food banks and food pantries, etc.) across the country. More information is available online at EndHunger.org.