Baker Tilly US launches 'Stewardship Day' to fight food insecurity

Food insecurity affects more than 17 million households in the US, with 6.9 million households facing continues low food security. In a bid to support charities in 30 local centres support people facing food insecurity, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause has launched 'Stewardship Day’ – whereby its staff donated more than 7,000 hours to support local food related charities.

The USA is one of the world’s richest countries, yet it is still blighted by food insecurity – in 2014, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, around 14% of the population, representing 17.4 million households, were food insecure – meaning that they “had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources.” Of the food insecure households, around 5.6%, representing 6.9 million households, were found to have very low food security. In total around 10% of households with children dealt with food insecurity in 2014.

Civil society organisations in the US continue to provide households on the edge with food assistance, with hundreds of such organisations existing at the city, state and national level. As part of Baker Tilly Virchow Krause’s corporate responsibility work, the firm organised its first ‘Stewardship Day’. Throughout the day, the firm leveraged its companywide resources– including more than 7,000 hours from 1,340 participating Baker Tilly professionals – to support 45 community and non-profit programmes throughout the US that provide relief to the food insecure.

The firm’s staff worked on a range of different activities across the organisations, from packing and delivering food, to harvesting food. The day provided a means for the firm’s staff to give back to the communities in which they live and work, as well as build on the firm’s legacy in the fight against hunger in the backyard.

Baker Tilly CEO Alan Whitman says, “Stewardship is one of Baker Tilly’s core values. As a firm and as individuals, we look for ways to leave the world a better place. It was an incredible day intended to make a difference. It was inspiring to see our team members work together to make a meaningful impact on the common cause of food insecurity.”