Move for Hunger Works with Apartment Communities to Fight Food Insecurity

Adam Lowy grew up in a family of movers. Lowy’s Moving Service had been a family business for over a century, and Lowy had helped many households move. But one aspect of moving always bothered him and his family.

“We were sick of seeing food get thrown away,” Lowy said.

It was that drive to prevent food waste that inspired Lowy to found Move for Hunger, a nonprofit organization that redirects unopened food products to food banks.

Move for Hunger, the latest organization honored in this year’s ThanksGifting campaign, received a donation of $10,000 from Apartments.com.

Here’s how Move for Hunger keeps millions of pounds of food from ending up in landfills.

Click CC to turn on closed captioning.

From moving to multifamily

Caption: Moving companies are an important element of Move for Hunger’s food distribution network. Photo courtesy of Move for Hunger.

As part of a moving company, Lowy saw that movers play a key role in preventing food waste. When residents move, they often end up tossing pantry items they can’t take with them. And so unopened, nonperishable foods — items that could otherwise feed people in need —go to waste.

Move for Hunger began with a focus on moving companies. The organization partners with moving companies across the country to collect pantry items and donate them to local food banks.

But Lowy realized that there was another key to the puzzle: multifamily communities.

“There’s a lot of people that don’t always use a moving company,” he said. “And even if they do, a lot of those people live in multifamily housing.”

Move for Hunger now works with 3,000 multifamily properties across the United States and Canada, representing half a million units.

Caption: Apartment communities large and small partner with Move for Hunger to gather pantry items from residents upon moveout. Photo courtesy of Move for Hunger.

The organization provides multifamily onsite staff with resources to gather up residents’ food upon moveout. It then activates a vast distribution network to pick up the food and deliver it to food banks and food pantries in the local community.

“We can support these communities where property managers and residents live and work all throughout the year, ensuring more food ends up in the pantry versus in the trash,” Lowy said.

Preventing waste and fighting hunger

For Lowy, Move for Hunger has a two-part mission. Besides diverting pantry items from the landfill, the organization is also committed to helping vulnerable people get access to food.

One in six children go hungry every night, Lowy said. A total of 47 million Americans face food insecurity, according to the organization.

“We're talking about friends and neighbors and colleagues making almost impossible choices of whether to pay their rent or pay for medication or put food on the table for themselves or their families,” Lowy said.

In addition to collecting food from people who are moving, the nonprofit also organizes food drives, fundraisers, and awareness campaigns year-round.

Caption: Move for Hunger helps multifamily communities organize food drives to support their local food banks. Photo courtesy of Move for Hunger.

Moving for disaster relief

When disaster strikes, the need for food and clean water can be especially urgent.

That’s Move for Hunger relies on its extensive distribution work.

After Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck the Southeast this fall, Move for Hunger responded quickly, delivering truckloads of food and water to communities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

“It’s great to be able to have this network of trucks to be able to literally deliver it into sometimes very hard-to-reach locations,” Lowy said.

Converting dollars into meals

As a recipient of Apartments.com’s annual ThanksGifting campaign, Move for Hunger will turn the $10,000 donation into 30,000 meals, Lowy said.

“Every dollar you donate helps us provide three meals,” he said.

In honor of ThanksGifting, Move for Hunger is hosting an online fundraiser to raise funds to feed more families.

ThanksGifting: a month of giving back

Celebrated every November, ThanksGifting is an annual campaign by Apartments.com to honor nonprofit organizations working with the multifamily industry. Our donations support these organizations’ efforts across the U.S. and Canada.

Learn more about Move for Hunger and how your properties can support its mission.

Get to know the other recipients of this year’s campaign:

• Hatching Hope helps multifamily residents recover from disasters. Meet Hatching Hope.
• United Way Centraide Canada provides a helpline to help residents and others access essential resources. Meet United Way Centraide Canada.
• Entryway combats homelessness by offering at-risk individuals a path to housing and economic stability through a career in the multifamily industry. Meet Entryway.

You decide: Which charity should receive $10,000 from Apartments.com?

Do you know of a charity that does important work? Let us know! The nonprofit organization you choose could receive a $10,000 donation in your name, courtesy of Apartments.com.

Enter our giveaway, which closes November 30, for your chance to nominate a nonprofit organization that matters to you.

Nominate a charity