Tusk Philanthropies Announces 2022 Anti-Hunger Campaigns As Food Insecurity Remains High Across U.S.

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tusk Philanthropies, a nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger in the United States, today announced its 2022 grant recipients. The nonprofit runs coordinated anti-hunger campaigns in cities and states to pass legislation that expands nutrition programs. It will provide resources and funding to eight organizations selected to run campaigns focused on enacting political and policy changes to reduce food insecurity in their local communities. The eight grantees include Hunger Free Vermont, the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, The Greater Boston Food Bank, Hunger Free New Jersey, Feeding Kentucky, D.C. Hunger Solutions, Maryland Hunger Solutions, and the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.

"Because of pandemic-induced emergency food assistance measures, we've seen one- or two-year demonstrations of policies that our partners on the ground have backed for years – like universal school meals," said Bradley Tusk, CEO and Founder of Tusk Philanthropies. "We now know the difference school meals, directly into the mouths of kids, can make to children, their families, and their communities, and we need to keep that going. Using our political campaign-like approach, we support our local partners who work diligently day-to-day to provide security to those in the most need by providing that extra push to pass legislation that is on the cusp of being politically palatable."

Tusk Philanthropies will fund eight grantees to run seven campaigns in the 2022 legislative session with the following partners on the ground:

• Hunger Free Vermont: Campaign for universal school meals, which would make breakfast and lunch permanently free to all public school students.
• Mass Law Reform Institute and The Greater Boston Food Bank: The second part of a two-year campaign to pass legislation to provide better access to food for tens of thousands of public college students.
• Hunger Free New Jersey: Campaign to increase income eligibility for free school meals, which would aim to capture food insecure families that frequently fall through the cracks. 
• Feeding Kentucky: Campaign to explicitly permit eating breakfast during instructional time.
• D.C. Hunger Solutions: Campaign for universal school meals, which would make breakfast and lunch permanently free to all public school students.
• Maryland Hunger Solutions: Campaign for universal school meals, which would make breakfast and lunch permanently free to all public school students.
• Food Bank of Northern Nevada: Campaign to eliminate the cost of reduced price meals for over one hundred thousand children.

Tusk Philanthropies focuses on achieving its goals primarily through effecting legislative change and funds, develops and manages campaigns to pass laws that enable states to take advantage of existing federal funding for meal programs and nutrition assistance. To date, Tusk Philanthropies has helped secure federal and state dollars to pass legislation in fifteen states. 

"After another pandemic year, there are so many people going hungry — including 13 million children. We focus on flexing our political muscle to fund and run coordinated state campaigns, which has resulted in passing legislation in fifteen states in just four grant cycles," said Tusk Philanthropies Anti-Hunger Campaign Director Lisa Quigley. "We are determined to continue that momentum, and we are excited about the partners and campaigns we have chosen to make that happen." Quigley joined Tusk Philanthropies this year as the Anti-Hunger Campaign Director.

About Tusk Philanthropies

Tusk Philanthropies, the family foundation of political strategist Bradley Tusk, is focused on making sure that people who are hungry have enough food to eat. Ensuring people have access to food is an immediate problem that the organization addresses every year by funding, developing, and managing legislative campaigns to expand and strengthen access to nutrition programs like Breakfast After the Bell, Universal School Meals, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). To date, Tusk Philanthropies has helped secure state and federal funding to support school meals programs in Arizona, California, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington. To learn more, visit tuskphilanthropies.com.

Media Contact:
Dani Frese
[email protected]

SOURCE Tusk Philanthropies