|
MEDIA ADVISORY AND BACKGROUNDER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 31, 2023
Contact: Dr. Kent Davis-Packard, President & Executive Director, [email protected] phone: (202) 341-1122
On Monday, November 6, the global non-profit, sponsored by TC Energia (NYSE: TRP) and in partnership with the White Pony Express, the Universidad Veracruzana, and a team of researchers from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Azcapotzalco, will inaugurate the “shared abundance” program with an initial mini-distribution as well as day of celebration and action, focusing on the nutritional needs of women and girls in Mexico.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Francisco, CA and Washington, DC, October 31, 2023. On November 6, international non-profit organization, Women Forward International (WFI) and TC Energía, a leading energy infrastructure company, will join forces to launch the program "Sharing abundance: a new model for food rescue in Mexico" with a pilot food rescue program to be carried out in Veracruz. In preparation for the nationwide program, titled Alas de Amor, WFI will convene community leaders, volunteers, donors, and recipients for a small food distribution for fifteen women heads of families along with a day of celebration and action. The location of the event is the Campus Mocambo of Universidad Veracruz.
In the state of Veracruz, more than 50 percent of the population lives with food insecurity. At the same time, 20 million tons of food are wasted annually, contributing to a significant generation of greenhouse gasses. Globally women and girls are especially vulnerable to these economic and environmental challenges.
A unique proven program ready for national expansion
The November 6 event offers a preview of a larger effort to tackle food insecurity throughout the country, where some twenty to thirty million people are food insecure. As a first step and under the direction of WFI, graduate student teams from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Azcapotzalco campus and Universidad Veracruzana are conducting an implementation plan to determine the best way to carry out this program on a regular basis in the state and with the goal of scaling it to a national level.
The program follows a food rescue model founded by Dr. Carol Weyland Conner called White Pony Express (WPE), whose international success is based on identifying surplus sources of fresh and healthy food, sorting it to ensure it is of high quality, and customizing deliveries based on the specific needs of the populations served.
While a diverse group of civil society organizations is working to address this problem, Alas de Amor improves these efforts through a robust, volunteer-based community program that incorporates and coordinates public and private partnerships. A conglomerate of Mexican organizations, including COPARMEX, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico and the Coordinating Council of Women Entrepreneurs are exploring ways to join the project through material, financial and voluntary contributions.
"We seek to build unity within Mexican communities that are attentive to the needs of women and girls while also eliminating food waste contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The studies we support uncover game-changing innovations," commented Kent Davis-Packard, founder of Women Forward International.
Created in 2019, WFI has developed 20 projects around the world and is part of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). WFI brings together graduate students from leading universities around the world with multilateral institutions, businesses and non-profit organizations to promote action-oriented research.
According to Jennifer Pierce, President of TC Energia: "By putting women at the center of the food security conversation, TC Energía seeks to support the communities where we operate so that they can benefit from new models of food distribution led and operated by the communities themselves. In addition to being an energy solutions provider, we seek to contribute specific solutions to the needs of the regions where we have a presence. Together we can inspire a new era based on humanity, love and service to the most vulnerable.”
Details about the November 6 Community Day of Action
Site: Universidad Veracruzana Campus Mocambo, Calz. Juan Pablo II S/N, Costa Verde, 94294 Boca del Rio, Ver., Mexico: Facultad de Contaduría y negocios de la Universidad Veracruzana: Map
Agenda:
November 6, 2023, 11 am to 2 pm. The public orientation with speakers and music will take place from 11am – 12pm, followed by the food distribution from 12pm – 2pm. Excess fresh food for ten to fifteen families, especially women and girls, will be delivered by local restaurant representatives and other food donors to the campus of the Universidad Veracruzana, where these donors will participate in the public program and pledge their support.
Afterwards, WFI will welcome volunteers from TC Energy partnered with student volunteers from the Universidad Veracruzana and the Rotary Club of Veracruz, who will deliver the food and supplies to participating households, taking advantage of the time to get to know the families and their specific needs. The food rescue program will be tailored according to these needs, with a special focus on assisting women and girls. The information gathered will contribute to needs assessments that will inform future distributions.
ABOUT WOMEN FORWARD INTERNATIONAL (WFI): WFI (www.womenforwardinternational.org) builds creative partnerships that bridge mind and heart to bring about unity, collaboration and service to humanity. WFI’s partnerships encompass a range of private sector, academic and non-profit clients to identify research critical to human progress, and then pairs teams of graduate international studies students with these organizations to complete that research and implement innovative solutions. These projects include empowering women artisans in conflict zones, enabling sustainable farming with gender equity and taking steps toward the elimination of hunger along with inclusive access to education through digital and other unique platforms. WFI uses the reflective power of Art to reveal and investigate the underlying cultural issues at stake in a given international relations issue. It thus provides the next generation of global leaders with a more holistic approach to human relationships.
ABOUT TC ENERGIA (TC Energy) (www.tcenergia.com)
We’re a team of 7,000+ energy problem solvers working to move, generate and store the energy North America relies on. Today, we’re taking action to make that energy more sustainable and more secure. We’re innovating and modernizing to reduce emissions from our business. And we’re delivering new energy solutions – from natural gas and renewables to carbon capture and hydrogen – to help other businesses and industries decarbonize too. Along the way, we invest in communities and partner with our neighbors, customers and governments to build the energy system of the future. TC Energy’s common shares trade on the Toronto (TSX) and New York (NYSE) stock exchanges under the symbol TRP. To learn more, visit us at TCEnergy.com.
ABOUT WHITE PONY EXPRESS (WPE): Based in the California Bay Area, White Pony Express (WPE) (www.whiteponyexpress.org) is a volunteer-powered organization with a mission to eliminate hunger and poverty by delivering the abundance all around us to those in need—with love. They serve 120,000 people each year by partnering with more than 80 non-profit agencies who have strong ties to the community. The food 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.
ABOUT “WINGS OF LOVE” (ALAS DE AMOR): Launched in August 2023 in Mexico City, “Wings of Love” is a project to share abundance. Thanks to the generous support of TC Energía, Women Forward International is launching a food rescue program modeled after the White Pony Express’ “circle of giving” in California, with a focus on women and girls in Mexico. With the participation of students from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Azcapotzalco and the Universidad Veracruzana (UV), by early 2024, WFI expects to have in place a shared abundance food rescue program that serves women and girls and their communities and helps them to move from the margins to the mainstream.
| 
