There was a changing of the guard Thursday night at the 2023 BoxLunch Holiday Gala as everyone’s favorite geeky merch retailer crowned Stranger Things star David Harbour as 2023’s celebrity ambassador in their philanthropic partnership with Feeding America.
Chances are high that if you’re a TMS reader, you own something repping your favorite fandoms that you purchased from BoxLunch. What you may not realize is that BoxLunch has an ongoing partnership with Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger relief organization in the U.S. which provides food to people in need through a nationwide network of local food banks.
$10 of every purchase at BoxLunch, either from their site or from one of their 245+ stores nationwide, goes to providing a meal to a person in need through Feeding America. But that’s just the beginning of their partnership, as BoxLunch has gotten really good at leveraging its pop culture relationships to get fans like us more involved in the fight against hunger.
In an evening hosted by Community‘s Joel McHale, 2022’s outgoing celebrity ambassador, Simu Liu, passed on the ambassador mantle (and the BoxLunch letterman jacket) to David Harbour, who was “humbled” to be asked to take on this philanthropic role.
During his remarks, Harbour mentioned that he’d been “Thanked a couple of times this evening and it’s been quite humbling because I want to thank you for allowing me to do this. Some of the speeches I’ve heard tonight [from leaders of local food banks being honored for their work] have been extremely moving and inspirational, and I really couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this impactful journey. I hope by taking up the Giving Ambassador role, I’ll be able to do the same and inspire folks everywhere to come on this journey with us.”
Harbour brought the concrete impact that fan purchases at BoxLunch retailers have on their local communities into focus, saying:
“From the very beginning, BoxLunch has been all about giving back. In fact, it was founded with the clear mission to make a difference in our local communities by teaming up with Feeding America. As you know, every $10 you spend at BoxLunch will help provide a meal to a person in need. Even more specifically, you will help provide a meal to a person in need in your community. Those donations not only fuel Feeding America’s nationwide efforts, but the local food banks that support your friends, families and neighbors experiencing food insecurity. And that means that almost every time you shop at BoxLunch, you have a direct impact on helping to end hunger in your community and beyond.”
Harbour also announced that in 2023, BoxLunch achieved the milestone of providing 175 million meals to Feeding America. To celebrate that milestone, Harbour presented Feeding America’s Chief Marketing and Digital Experience Officer Jennifer Polk with a check for $100,000 from BoxLunch, solidifying their commitment to the organization.
Polk called fans who support BoxLunch’s philanthropy “Avengers” in the fight against hunger and expressed hope that this fight wouldn’t turn out to be an “Infinity War.” Harbour then surprised her by matching that donation with an additional $100,000 of his own, bringing the total donation to $200,000 to help Feeding America continue the important work they’ve been doing for 40 years.
In addition to creating the role of Celebrity Ambassador to inspire fans to get involved in the fight against hunger, BoxLunch also has a wide network of social media influencers preaching the gospel of fighting hunger locally. This “BoxLunch Collective” uses the power of social media to spread the mission of ending food insecurity far and wide.
The Collective was out at the gala in full force, including other celebrity guests like Seth Green, Emma Caulfield Ford, Teyonah Parris, Erin Moriarty, Anika Noni Rose, David Dastmalchian, Xóchitl Gómez, and Dancing With the Stars‘ Val Chmerkovskiy.
Several members were on hand specifically to present awards of $25,000 each to four Feeding America® network localized food banks to use in their local communities:
Joel McHale introduced Erika Duran, a San Diego mother of 3 who uses Feeding San Diego Food Bank to feed her children healthy, nutritious meals. She shared her story before helping to award Feeding San Diego with $25,000.
Xóchitl Gómez (Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness) and her Dancing with the Stars partner Val Chmerkovskiy presented the Community Commitment award to Sari Vatske, CEO of Central Texas Food Bank, who mentioned that Texas has the largest food insecurity problem in the country.
Erin Moriarty (The Boys) and David Dastmalchian (Oppenheimer) presented the Community Impact award to Allyson Vaulx, Assistant VP of Philanthropy at Feeding South Florida.
Teyonah Parris (The Marvels) presented the Community Outreach award to Cassidie Bates, Government & Public Affairs Manager of the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano.
Geeks often believe that we can all be heroes and that a better world is possible. If you want to help make a difference in the lives of those experiencing hunger where you live, here are some steps you can take:
- Purchase some pop culture swag at a BoxLunch location near you (or online)!
- Check out Feeding America’s national website and find out how you can donate directly or volunteer your time
- Visit one of the local food banks above, or any of the other 250+ Feeding America partner food banks near you to find out what you can do to help folks in your community.
It sucks that even one person is going hungry in an industrialized, wealthy country like the United States. It has nothing to do with “not having enough food,” and everything to do with resources being unevenly distributed.
As we continue to work toward creating a government that actually prioritizes the well-being of its citizens, efforts like those being made by BoxLunch and Feeding America help fill in gaps that desperately need filling. The BoxLunch Holiday Gala was a wonderful way to celebrate and amplify that essential work.
And now, as a reward for reading this far, here’s David Harbour in a BoxLunch Barbie racing jacket. You’re welcome.
(featured image: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for BoxLunch)
