31 Years of Innovative Solutions to Hunger and Poverty

Top Achievements

1975: Hungerthons Launched in New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Dallas, Detroit and San Francisco. On Thanksgiving weekend, Harry Chapin, Bill Ayres, radio executive Mel Karmazin and DJ Pete Fornatale create the first Hungerthon, a 24-hour broadcast about hunger. Today, Hungerthon reaches more than six million listeners on all New York City Infinity Radio Stations.

1977: Why. Magazine. (formerly Food Monitor) is the first national magazine to focus exclusively on hunger and poverty. Its valuable material moves on-line in 2000.

1978: Presidential Commission on World Hunger. It is Sandy Chapin’s idea and Harry’s energy that helps make the commission a reality. The Presidential Commission on World Hunger is created to improve U.S. trade policies, foreign aid and sustainable development.

1978 - 1981: WHY Creates Community Organizations. WHY starts organizations that promote self-reliance as well as distribute food: the New York City Food and Hunger Hotline (1978), Center for Food Action of New Jersey (1978) and Long Island Cares (1981). We continue to work with these organizations today.

1982: The Harry Chapin Media Awards. The awards honor the best reporting on hunger, poverty and self-reliance in the categories of books, periodicals, newspapers, photojournalism, television and radio.

1986: Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Awards. Sandy Chapin creates the program, administered by WHY and funded by the Chapin Foundation and WHY, to give financial grants to some of the most innovative grassroots programs in the U.S. fighting hunger and poverty. Some of these award-winning programs become seeds for WHY’s future Reinvesting in America program.

1990: Reinvesting In America. WHY creates its Reinvesting In America program in 1990 to build an information network of domestic organizations that create self-reliance, economic justice and food security. Today, Reinvesting In America is a significant national network that works to replicate effective organizations.

1991: WHY International Program. WHY directs its resources to international work promoting food security, sustainable agriculture, fair trade, microcredit and human rights. WHY is represented at the United Nations, World Summits and in international alliances that fight for justice.

1992: The Medford Declaration to End Hunger in the U.S. WHY is a major catalyst in organizing the 35 national hunger organizations that comprise the Medford Group. We work together to improve national, state, and local hunger and poverty policies and programs.

1994: Kids Can Make A Difference. This educational program of WHY focuses on the root causes of hunger and poverty, the people most affected, solutions and how students can help. Our original classroom curriculum is now in 1,000 schools and encourages students to learn about and be involved in hunger issues, as well as to inspire them to realize it is within their own power to help eliminate hunger and poverty in their communities, their country and their world.

1995 Replication Workshops. WHY co-hosts a series of workshops designed to promote the replication of effective grassroots programs, especially the Super Cupboard and Survival Skills models, in new communities.

1995: National Hunger Clearinghouse Created in Partnership with the U.S. Department Of Agriculture. WHY launches the Clearinghouse to connect food, nutrition, hunger and agriculture organizations via a centralized national information database.

1996: Artists Against Hunger and Poverty. An activity that enlists artists, such as Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Merchant and Phish, to raise funds, volunteers and awareness for the most innovative and effective grassroots programs fighting hunger and poverty in the United States and abroad.

1996: WHY Connections. WHY publishes a quarterly newsletter with easy to read information about fundraising, model programs, legislation and statistics. This information is geared to the thousands of grassroots hunger and poverty groups we serve.

1997-1999: Replication Manuals. WHY produces comprehensive replication manuals for seven grassroots organizations through a partnership with the Corporation for National Service Americorps*VISTA. The manuals are a blueprint for replication organizations to adopt the core principles, concepts and philosophies of the model programs, and to inspire them to create new working programs to help strengthen and rebuild their own communities.

1998: The WHY Network. The Reinvesting In America program is strengthened when WHY gains the support of the grassroots organizations through membership in our national network of direct-service providers.

1999: White House Conference. The USDA considers us a valuable and experienced partner. On March 2, 1999, WHY and the USDA co-host a successful conference at the White House on “Innovative Solutions To Ending Hunger Through Self-Reliance,” which featured proven community-based organizations that are successfully tackling the problems of hunger and poverty.

1999: Federal Partners. WHY takes a leadership role in support of direct-service providers through our work with the United States Department of Agriculture, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Education, Small Business Administration, Department of Transportation and the Department of Justice on four major issues: access to the agencies, simplification of grants, promotion of best practices and replication of effective programs.

1999: Replication Training Institutes. WHY begins a process with federal agencies and grassroots organizations to create replication training institutes for successful hunger and poverty programs.

2000: Federal, State and Local Partners Replication Workshops. WHY partners with the USDA to co-host seven regional workshops across the United States. We connect grassroots organizations in each region that have replicable model programs with the federal, state and local agencies that have the money and resources to help them replicate their programs. Our goal is to create a working group of federal, state and local officials in each state to partner with grassroots organizations to provide funding and other resources in a more effective manner.

2001: WHY. Magazine. WHY moves its magazine to the web as "WHY Speaks," providing in-depth articles and analysis on food security, economic justice and political issues of the day.

2001: WHY's Website. WHY launches a new website design. Its content captivates thousands of visitors each week.

2001: National Hungerthon. WHY will partner with the Infinity Radio Stations to create the first ever national Hungerthon on Friday, November 23, 2001.

2002: WHY spearheads the distribution of $125,000 for 17 Monmouth County, New Jersey, community-based organizations. WHY also forges connections between 33 organizations and six artists, including long-time WHY supporter Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, that results in concerts and other activities that raised additional funds and public awareness. 2002: WHY presents and forges partnerships at the World Food Summit in Rome; the World Food Summit on Sustainable Development; the Washington, DC, Community Food Security Coalition Conference; and the Salzburg Food Security Seminar funded by the W.R. Kellogg Foundation.

2002: WHY partners with the New School University for the first Harry Chapin Awards Forum: Journalism Meets the Grassroots on July 1, 2002. This free, public event gives journalists and direct service providers a chance to share stories from the frontlines in the war against hunger and poverty.

2003: WHY launches a new web initiative for an online learning center that pulls together in one place information on community food security, nutrition, domestic hunger and poverty, rural poverty, and other common community problems. The Food Security Learning Center provides visitors with an in-depth look at hunger and poverty issues facing the global community.

2003: The National Hunger and Poverty Resource Guide makes its debut. You can learn more about hunger, poverty, and economic security by searching this online directory of more than 400 organizations that work for food security, jobs and justice.

2004: WHY partners with the USDA and other non-profit organizations across the US to help provide outreach to every American who is eligible for Food Stamps and to change the culture of local and state Food Stamp offices so they can see themselves as our country’s “Hunger Heroes” who serve their clients in a timely and courteous manner. The USDA has accepted the concept and is establishing national and statewide awards for exemplary Food Stamp employees.