Indian Americans Take a Stand Against Hunger in New Jersey

HILLSIDE, NJ—August 13, 2019

Indian Americans across New Jersey are coming together to fight hunger with the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. To drum up interest in the soon to be launched New Jersey chapter of the Indian American Council (IAC), the FoodBank held an India Day Volunteer Celebration on Saturday, August 10—to coincide with India’s Independence Day on August 15—at its Hillside warehouse to help provide meals to New Jerseyans in need as part of the national Hunger Mitao Campaign. Nearly 50 volunteers from various companies and organizations gathered together to sort and pack donated food for distribution to their hungry neighbors.

With a rally cry of “Hunger Mitao!”, which means Wipe Out Hunger, the Indian American Council was originally founded in September 2017 out of the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas, Texas. In just seven subsequent months, the IAC surpassed its goal of funding one million meals for hungry North Texans. Now with chapters in Houston and New York City, and a collective 6 million meals later, Anna and Raj Asava, philanthropists and co-founders of the IAC, are mobilizing the Indian community around the issue of hunger right here in the Community FoodBank of New Jersey’s 16-county service area.

“In the spirit of ‘give where you live,’ the Indian American community—led by the IAC—has enabled over 4 million meals in North Texas alone in under two years,” said Raj. “We are excited to bring this movement to New Jersey and are confident that the Indian community here will galvanize around the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and help enable millions of meals for New Jersey’s food insecure children, seniors, veterans, and vulnerable families,” added Anna.

Hunger Mitao is a signature campaign of the Indian American Council and is observed during August, the month of India’s Independence Day. The Community FoodBank of New Jersey kicked off the IAC’s efforts with an inaugural volunteer event.

“The Asavas have a deep passion and dedication to raising awareness on the critical issue of hunger,” said Carlos Rodriguez, President & CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. “We are excited to partner with them to formally launch the Indian American Council here in New Jersey in 2020, where we’re certain their peers will take action, along with the other 1,000 partner agencies that we work with.”

The next Indian American Council volunteer event will take place around Diwali. For more information on how to get involved, please visit cfbnj.org/iac or contact iac@cfbnj.org.

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About the Community FoodBank of New Jersey

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), a member of Feeding America®, has been delivering food, help and hope across the state for 45 years. Last year, CFBNJ provided nutritious food for over 50 million meals through its network of more than 1,000 community partners including pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, mobile pantries, and child and senior feeding programs. For our hungry neighbors, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey is the powerful agent of change that fills the emptiness caused by hunger and provides resources that are essential to earning a sustainable living.

About the Indian American Council

The Indian American Council was formed to raise awareness, improve engagement, as well as channel resources and contributions of the Indian American community towards the overall mission of a hunger-free United States. In less than two years since its launch, the purely volunteer run Indian American Council has helped enable over 6 million meals for those served by the North Texas Food Bank, Houston Food Bank, and Food Bank for New York City.