Imagine a world where no person has to go to bed hungry. This is the mission of Meals of Hope, an organization committed to delivering nutritious, well-balanced meals to the individuals and families who need them most. By Shelby Green
Imagine a world where no person has to go to bed hungry. This is the mission of Meals of Hope, an organization committed to delivering nutritious, well-balanced meals to the individuals and families who need them most.
Steve Popper, founder of Meals of Hope, was originally a partner at a lumber wholesaling company. However, his mom and aunts were financially supporting a school in Haiti and soon found that children were not able to learn properly because they did not have access to enough food.
Popper and his family wanted to ship food to the school but had no idea how to gather and prepare such a large amount. Popper then learned about meal packing which led to him sponsoring an event where 500 people showed up to pack over 100,000 meals. Popper and his wife then made it their goal to pack one million meals in a year, a goal of which they well surpassed, and Meals of Hope was born.
“The mission really is to bring communities together in an effort to end hunger and food insecurity,” said Popper.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 44.2 million people lived in food-insecure households in 2022. This means they were limited in their access to safe, healthy food. Meals of Hope is working diligently to decrease that number by delivering meals to 10,000 people each week through its 15 mobile food pantries. The organization also hosts meal packing events and fills 10,000 backpacks each month with food for school children and their families.
Since 2007, the organization has packed nearly 100 million meals across the country and has generated millions of dollars from grants and donations that help it to stay in operation. Franchising has also been instrumental in the organization gaining momentum with several franchisor-specific giving back initiatives being a large factor in Meal of Hope’s success.
“We chose to franchise to help generate more revenue and better support the rapidly growing demand for food pantries,” said Jack Day, vice president of Meals of Hope. “We’re seeking Packing Partners who share our passion for addressing hunger and food insecurities in their local communities. Our partners enable us to be a best-in-class charitable organization.”
The Meals of Hope franchise model is simple but profitable. Through support from the Meals of Hope headquarters, franchisees build valuable relationships with local organizations and help execute fun and rewarding meal-packing events. The local organizations sponsor the event by supplying the venue and volunteers while the parent company of Meals of Hope supplies ingredients. The meals are then picked up by the local food bank. Franchise owners are paid a percentage of every meal packed, with most events averaging between ten thousand and one million meals.
“Now is the time to invest in a Meals of Hope franchise,” said Day. “We only have a limited number of territories available, once they’re gone, they’re gone. This is a vitally important issue, and we’ve proven that this business model can have an enormous impact. We’re excited to partner with entrepreneurs who share our commitment to fighting the hunger crisis.”
Shelby Green