Dear Partner – Season’s Greetings. I am certain that, like me, you are ready to bid farewell to 2020. This has been unprecedented year. The number of people who have fallen ill and passed away from COVID-19 is hard to fathom, and we are only beginning to wrap our heads around the residual impacts of the pandemic. While we wait to see the full picture of the economic fallout, what we do know is that the pandemic has caused a tremendous spike in the demand for food assistance as millions of people find themselves facing hunger. But through this crisis, many families could put food on the table because of a local food bank. Prior to the pandemic, GFN member food banks served approximately 16.9 million people facing hunger; during the pandemic that number has climbed to 27.6 million people. If a crisis of this magnitude had occurred a decade ago, millions of these individuals would not have had a food bank to support them. In fact, more than 40 percent of the hunger relief organizations supported by GFN were started after 2015. It is due to innovative local leadership and globally-informed technical expertise, investment, and partnership that these community-based food banks can serve thousands of families today. It is this type of impact that encourages us at GFN. Although COVID-19 has spurred a hunger crisis, communities worldwide are mobilizing to help their neighbors and friends. Their response is only possible because of the generosity of partners like you who believe in the power of food banks to not only provide food relief, but to strengthen communities where they are based. Thank you for joining GFN and our members in the fight against hunger. Here’s to a year of good health and continued partnership. Lisa Moon President & CEO The Global FoodBanking Network