Since 2017, MaxFun has ended every MaxFunDrive with a special sale: all of our $10 and up members get the ability to buy as many of the $10 gift as they want, and 100% of the proceeds are donated to a charity carefully selected by our staff.
This year, we did something a little different: instead of donating the money we raised from the charity sale to one charity, we divided it between five food banks across the United States:
- Banco de Alimentos PR (Puerto Rico)
- Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana (Monroe, LA)
- Merced County Food Bank (Merced, CA)
- Second Harvest of South Georgia (Valdosta, GA)
- Food Bank of RGV (Rio Grande Valley, TX)
These weren’t chosen randomly: each of those food banks is in an area of the U.S. disproportionately affected by poverty and food insecurity. The cost of living is rising at an alarming rate all across the country—even in my city just outside of Seattle, apartments that used to go for $800 are going for $1600 and a bag of groceries that used to cost $20 now costs $50—but those effects are being felt the hardest in areas that already had high poverty and unemployment rates.
This year, through our members’ generous support, we were able to raise $50,000 to distribute evenly among the five food banks. That comes out to about 225,000 total meals that the food banks will be able to distribute to the people in need in their communities.
Thank you so much to everyone who bought a sticker during our 2023 charity sale, and to everyone who’s participated in the sales before that. It makes everyone here at MaxFunHQ feel good to know that we’ve got such a kind and supportive community. Since 2017, we’ve raised over $600,000 to donate to eleven wonderful charities, from the National Immigration Law Center to Trans Lifeline (a charity near and dear to my heart, as a trans person). We’re so excited that becoming a co-op means we’ll be able to continue supporting our community for a very long time to come.
Finally, thank you to all of the MaxFun staff, producers, and hosts who make the network what it is, and to all of the employees and volunteers at the food banks who work tirelessly to help the people in their communities put food on the table.
If you’d like to join us in donating to these food banks, you can do so at the following pages:
- Banco de Alimentos PR
- Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana
- Merced County Food Bank
- Second Harvest of South Georgia
- Food Bank of RGV
If you want to help people facing food insecurity but don’t have the ability to donate, consider looking up your local food bank—chances are, they could use more volunteers, and volunteering is a great way to help your local community.