Hunger/Homelessness

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has formed the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to reduce homelessness in Los Angeles. Bryant will hold a news conference Tuesday at My Friend's Place, a nonprofit resource center that offers free emergency services to about 1,600 homeless people a year, according to its website.

An innovative new social-media engagement platform launched by the United Nations World Food Programme is using the power of social media to raise the funds needed to feed tens of thousands of hungry children around the world.

WeFeedback engages supporters through an online “Feedback Calculator” that helps them work out how many children they could feed if they donated the cost of a favorite food item. Through social networks, followers of WeFeedback can track how many children their communities feed and what popular food items are being donated throughout the world.

Thursday Salt Lake City launched the Homeless Outreach Service Team program. Donation meters throughout downtown will allow people to give spare change to the homeless rather than to those who ask for it on the streets. All money collected in the meters will be distributed to homeless service providers in the city through the Pamela J. Atkinson Foundation.

Copywriter Jenny Nicholson thought a game to raise awareness about poverty and homelessness would help Urban Ministries tell its story. The result is SPENT, a game launched Feb. 8. In its first month it attracted more than 500,000 visitors who played the game more than 870,000 times, with the average visitor spending more than 10 minutes on the site.

The game, which has been played by visitors in more 155 countries, has generated nearly $11,000 in contributions from more than 500 donors, with the average donor giving roughly $20.

The Home Depot Foundation announced a pledge of $30 million over three years to address veterans’ housing issues. The Foundation’s financial commitment will be amplified by associates from The Home Depot, who will volunteer their time and home improvement know-how skills to projects across the country.

The initiative will kick off immediately by providing a total of $3.1 million to Fisher House Foundation, The Mission Continues and Volunteers of America to repair and rehabilitate facilities and homes serving veterans of all ages.

Feeding America, the nation's leading hunger-relief organization, will present The Lincy Foundation with the "Donor of the Year" Award at the national meeting of the Feeding America network in Las Vegas on Wednesday, April 13.

Since 2007, The Lincy Foundation has granted nearly $60 million to the Feeding America network. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 Feeding America-member food banks support 61,000 local agencies that address hunger in all of its forms.

When the Southeast Texas Food Bank was incorporated in 1991, it did no fundraising whatsoever, it had two donor names (the executive director and a board member) and its budget was around $700,000. Today, it has 25,000 donor names in its database and an operating budget of $1.9 million.

When the Southeast Texas Food Bank was incorporated in 1991, it did no fundraising whatsoever, it had two donor names (the executive director and a board member) and its budget was around $700,000. Today, it has 25,000 donor names in its database and an operating budget of $1.9 million.

As the University of Georgia converts the Navy Supply Corps School into a medical campus, a campus of a different sort will be springing up on North Avenue. As part of the deal to turn the former military base over to UGA, the university is paying a coalition of nonprofits $7.9 million to build housing and centralize services for the homeless.

Homeless advocates refer to it as a "one-stop shop," including medical and dental care, mental health and substance abuse counseling, job training and a place to sleep, shower and do laundry.

Sandra Lee, the Food Network personality and best-selling author, was surrounded by butter-cream-frosted cupcakes and mini-pecan pies, poised to kick off what she had billed as “the world’s largest bake sale” to raise $50,000 for the Food Bank for New York City. Ms. Lee, an advocate for ending childhood hunger, attracted 30 New York restaurants and food shops to Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal on Tuesday morning.