Food Bank of Northern Nevada (FBNN) has 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 approximately 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.
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.”
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.
The 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.
