Fighting Hunger with Goodr This Thanksgiving

By Twirling Umbrellas, On November 30, 2023, In Blog

For many families, Thanksgiving is a time to gather with loved ones and share a meal. However, with continued high prices on everything, including groceries, the holidays this year are bringing added stress for far too many. According to a new USDA food insecurity report (opens in a new tab), over 17 million households experienced food insecurity in 2022 – an increase of nearly 3.5 million households compared to 2021. While we don’t have numbers for 2023 yet, it’s clear the need for access to quality food remains high.

At Goodr, we work all year round to end hunger by bringing free high-quality groceries to food-insecure communities through our variety of Hunger Solutions. Our events make sure that people finding themselves in the vulnerable position of being food insecure have a kind, dignified, and free shopping experience to get the groceries they need for their families. Each year, our work ramps up as we head into the holiday season, and with the high need, 2023 has been no different. With this in mind, we did what we do best – rolled up our sleeves and joined together with some amazing partners to provide Thanksgiving groceries and essentials to families across the country.

This year, we teamed up with partners like Quality Control Music, the Kandi Cares Foundation, Aetna, and CJ McCollum for our signature Pop-Up Grocery Markets (opens in a new tab).

Altogether, we are proud to know that we served more than 86,000 meals to over 2,000 families from Georgia to Virginia to New Orleans.

In this blog post, we invite you to see the moments of generosity, connection, and shared abundance that defined our Thanksgiving Pop-Up Grocery Markets, showcasing the power of community and compassion. Join us as we reflect on the meaningful impact our collective efforts had on making Thanksgiving a little brighter for those we served.

Aetna Virginia

For the first time, we partnered with Aetna (opens in a new tab) Better Health of Virginia for Pop-Up Grocery Markets in Petersburg and Norfolk. Ahead of Thanksgiving, we provided health information, games, fun, and groceries to 200 families at each event.

Plenty of fresh produce for Virginia families at the Aetna Virginia Thanksgiving Pop-Up Grocery MarketWelcome to the Aetna Virginia Thanksgiving Pop-Up Grocery MarketSmiles and fresh groceries at the Aetna Virginia Thanksgiving Pop-Up Grocery MarketCan’t forget the eggs at the Aetna Virginia Thanksgiving Pop-Up Grocery MarketA good game of Jenga at the Aetna Virginia Thanksgiving Pop-Up Grocery Market

CJ McCollum

For the second year in a row, we teamed up with New Orleans Pelicans player CJ McCollum (opens in a new tab) to feed NOLA families ahead of the holiday. With the help of fellow Pelicans player Trey Murphy III (opens in a new tab), Pierre the Pelican, and more, we were able to serve Thanksgiving essentials to 500 families at the McCollum Friendsgiving 2023 Pop-Up Grocery Market.

Goodr partner, CJ McCollum, loads bags filled with shelf-stable Thanksgiving groceries at the McCollum Friendsgiving Pop-Up Grocery MarketFresh produce is a must for the Thanksgiving mealThe perfect pass of a sweet potato from Trey Murphy III to CJ McCollum for the produce bags at the McCollum Friendsgiving Pop-Up Grocery Market 2023The Thanksgiving grocery display table at the McCollum Friendsgiving Pop-Up Grocery MarketTeamwork makes the dream work at the McCollum Friendsgiving Pop-Up Grocery Market 2023

Quality Control

In Atlanta, we joined forces with long-term partner Quality Control Music (opens in a new tab) to provide Thanksgiving essentials for more than 300 south Atlanta families. With our DJ and plenty of volunteers from the Quality Control team, we were able to create a fun atmosphere full of choice and for families to receive all the grocery items they needed for the holiday meals. Take a look at the Quality Control Music Thanksgiving Pop-Up Market in action!

Feeding Families for Thanksgiving with Quality Control Music - YouTube

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Feeding Families for Thanksgiving with Quality Control Music Goodr Co

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Feeding families for Thanksgiving with Quality Control Music

Kandi Cares & Aetna Georgia

Rain or shine, we are committed to doing Goodr! Despite heavy rain, we hosted a Thanksgiving Pop-Up Market in partnership with Kandi Burruss (opens in a new tab)‘ Kandi (opens in a new tab) Cares Foundation (opens in a new tab) and Aetna Better Health of Georgia. Together, we provided turkeys, fresh collard greens, sweet potatoes, eggs, milk, and much more to over 750 Atlanta families. See how we persevered through the storm to bring a little light and free food to families in the Atlanta metro area before Thanksgiving.

Aetna’s Andre Greenwood poses with the welcome sign at the Kandi Cares and Aetna Thanksgiving Pop-Up Grocery MarketThe grocery display table at the Kandi Cares and Aetna Thanksgiving Pop-Up Grocery MarketKandi Burruss talking to Goodr and Aetna team membersKandi Burruss, founder of Kandi Cares Foundation, and the Aetna team holding grocery bag at the Kandi Cares and Aetna Thanksgiving Pop-Up Grocery MarketAll smiles at the Kandi Cares and Aetna Thanksgiving Pop-Up Grocery Market

It’s always an honor to provide free groceries to families across the country with the help of our amazing partners. To help ensure families have what they need to cook good and nutritious meals throughout the year, especially during the holidays, is what we mean when we say do Goodr!