Giving Back

WE DONATE AT LEAST 20% OF OUR PROFITS TO CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS WORKING TO FEED COMMUNITIES, ADVANCE HUMAN RIGHTS, AND PROTECT THE PLANET.

Every purchase you make helps us support important causes like these.

Feeding Hungry School Children Across The Globe

Today we are facing an unprecedented global food crisis, and kids are paying the price. Outside of the US, 153 million children under 18 are facing extreme levels of malnutrition. That’s 3x the entire U.S. student population from pre-k to 12th grade and is only expected to rise.

Today, we are facing an unprecedented global food crisis, and kids are paying the price.

Outside of the US, 153 million children under 18 are facing extreme levels of malnutrition. That’s 3X the entire U.S. student population from pre-k to 12th grade and is only expected to rise.

The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest provider of school meals, working in 57 countries to reach 18 million children with school meals, snacks, and take-home rations. Their school meals program strengthens educational opportunities, provides critical nutritional support, promotes gender equality, and supports small-scale farmers.

We are thrilled to partner with WFP and support their mission to end childhood hunger. To date, we've donated $292,121 or 1,168,485 school meals to communities in need across the globe.

Providing school meals provides much-needed nutritional support for kids and increases enrollment and attendance by an average of 9%, especially for girls. It is one of the most essential and efficient social safety nets for communities. Healthy, educated children can grow up to find work, become leaders, and raise their own families one day. School meals also help parents reroute their money to other pressing needs like hygiene items, healthcare or rent, which are just as critical for children. With support from the U.N. World Food Programme, small-scale farmers also provide the ingredients for school meals. This homegrown approach ensures children have nutritious meals, builds resilient food systems and boosts local economies.

Learn more about the WFP and consider giving at WFP.org.

Repurposing Excess Food by Creating Meals

Building A More Equitable & Sustainable Food System

38 million Americans, including 12 million children, lack reliable access to nutritious meals. Meanwhile, 108 billion pounds of food or 40% of the country's food supply goes uneaten yearly in the U.S. There is enough food in the system, but it's not getting into the hands of those who need it. Rethink Food exists to bridge that gap.

Founded in 2017, Rethink Food is an NYC-Based, national nonprofit that aims to create a more sustainable and equitable food system. They do this in two ways.

First, they partner with restaurants that prepare nutritious meals as part of their daily operations for local communities impacted by food insecurity. Some restaurants specifically fundraise for the organization by adding a surcharge to their checks. These funds are reinvested into local restaurants, 80% of which are minority- or women-owned or led businesses, to prepare meals.

Second, Rethink Food operates a sustainable commissary kitchen, which converts donated and excess food from a wide range of partners across the food system--such as distributors, purveyors, and corporations--into an average of 8,500 weekly nutritious meals delivered cost-free to community-based organizations (CBOs).

Good Start Packaging is thrilled to support their work, donating $15,000 towards sustainable packaging for these delivered meals.

To inquire about being a restaurant partner, donating your excess food, volunteering with their organization and more visit RethinkFood.org.

Creating Summer Meals For Kids

1 in 8 kids live with hunger in America. Through grant programs, advocacy initiatives, and resources, including their Free Meals Finder, No Kid Hungry aims to end childhood hunger in the United States by addressing the root causes of hunger and improving access to nutritious food.

1 in 8 kids live with hunger in America, and No Kid Hungry is working to change that. Through grant programs, advocacy initiatives, and resources, including their Free Meals Finder, No Kid Hungry aims to end childhood hunger in the United States by addressing the root causes of hunger and improving access to nutritious food.

Summer is often the hungriest time of the year for many kids. With the help of No Kid Hungry, local schools and community groups run summer programs open to any child or teenager who needs a healthy meal throughout the school break. We're thrilled to be able to support No Kid Hungry's Summer meals program providing up to 5,000 meals to the initiative.

Providing Ukrainian Families with Food, Shelter, & Daily Essentials

When our CEO, Ken Jacobus, saw images on TV of thousands of Ukrainian refugees gathered at Warsaw Central train station in Poland, trying to escape the horror of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he thought he could help. So, he booked a one-way flight to Warsaw armed with 6 million American Express Marriot Bonvoy credit card points and a plan to transport, feed, and book Marriott hotel rooms for weary refugees.

Since this fateful flight, Ken and Good Start Packaging have provided support to hundreds of Ukrainian families. To date, we’ve invested over $300,000 in relief efforts for the people of Ukraine and have donated more than $34,000 to UNICEF, the International Red Cross, the International Rescue Committee, and United Ukraine in humanitarian assistance in Poland.

Our focus initially was on providing temporary housing, but as the nature of need has shifted, we’ve concentrated our efforts on supplying food, personal hygiene products, and other daily living essentials for refugees living in Poland. This shift has also been critical as government and non-profit aid started being focused elsewhere.

We’ve also recently sponsored a Ukraine family to relocate to the United States, providing complimentary, furnished lodging while they acquire work permits. They are three of 100,000 refugees allowed entry through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Uniting for Ukraine program. We are excited and grateful to welcome them to the New Hampshire community.

The crisis in Ukraine represents an opportunity for all of us to demonstrate that we’ll stand up to protect basic human rights, the sovereignty of every country, and international laws.

Supplying Clean Water to Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa

164 million children in sub-Saharan Africa have no drinking water service at their schools, and 215 million children attend schools without basic sanitation.

Finding water is a daily challenge for communities in Africa, particularly women and girls. They often spend hours fetching water that is frequently dirty and unsafe. This lack of safe water and proper sanitation limits education and food production and leads to illness and disease.

The Water Project helps bring clean water to these communities by providing training, expertise, and financial support for water project construction. The projects include new wells, rehabbed wells, sand dams, rainwater catchment systems, and spring protections.

We’re thrilled to support Kenya's Kasioni and Mbitini Communities in constructing their new wells, hand pumps, and sand dams. Over 1,800 people are directly impacted by these projects.

Learn more about the installation process and the water crisis in Africa at The Water Project

GIVING BACK TO OUR COMMUNITIES

All Good Start Packaging employees receive three days of paid volunteer time each year. We also organize quarterly team service projects near our headquarters in Bedford, New Hampshire. Here are some of the local causes we support.