Catalina López-Ospina is Honored by Project Bread Hunger Relief

On May 2, Catalina López-Ospina, of Hyde Park, laced up for Project Bread’s 53rd annual Walk for Hunger. She was among more than 1,500 virtual participants who hit the pavement in their neighborhoods and rallied supporters online to raise $1,067,000 for the cause. Fundraising for the event will continue through June 30.

During the event, Project Bread honored López-Ospina with the Patrick Hughes Award for Social Justice for her work as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Food Access (OFA) in Boston, helping to fill gaps in food access for individuals and families and expand the city’s anti-hunger efforts. The Award recognizes an individual with an unyielding commitment to driving meaningful change by addressing the causes of hunger, thus carrying forward the spirit of the event’s founder, Patrick Hughes.

“Catalina has consistently been a force for good in her community,” says Erin McAleer, CEO of Project Bread. “In a year when so many have experienced hunger at unprecedented levels, she has stepped up even more to have an impact on Bostonians struggling with hunger. Catalina and the Mayor’s Office of Food Access have been committed partners with Project Bread to continue and expand programs to help get food to those who need it now, while working to ensure all residents have enough to eat in the future. Her dedication and vision to ending hunger in her community is awe-inspiring, and we are so proud to partner with her on large-scale solutions.”

During the COVID-19 crisis, Project Bread and the OFA launched a large-scale Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) awareness campaign to connect Boston residents with the underutilized federal nutrition program. They also surveyed Boston residents to better understand barriers to SNAP and are currently working to identify solutions. Separately, the OFA supported the launch of the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) and created a Double Up Bucks program to promote SNAP and HIP benefits. The OFA continues to partner with Project Bread to expand Summer Eats, the Massachusetts Summer Food Service Program, which provides free meals to youth in low-income communities statewide over school vacation. As a result, last summer Project Bread and the City of Boston awarded grants to 28 alternative meal sites in Boston to support community-based summer meal sites across the city.

“Ensuring access to nutritious food is a critical piece of our response to the COVID-19 crisis, and a key part of Boston’s equitable recovery response.” says López-Ospina. “I am passionate about ensuring everyone has access to the food they need. No individual or family in the City of Boston should ever have to worry about putting food on the table, and I am grateful to be able to work towards making this a reality. Project Bread has been a great partner, and the Walk for Hunger has been a wonderful way to take action on a personal level.”

López-Ospina is committed to addressing barriers to food access, especially those who face disproportionate levels of food insecurity. Last fall, she sat on the advisory group for The State of Hunger in Massachusetts, a joint study with Project Bread, Children’s Health Watch and The Boston Foundation that explores the impact of pre-existing racism and socioeconomic inequalities in East Boston on COVID-19 response and shows how Latinos in the community are disproportionately impacted.

As part of her award, she received $10,000 to donate to a community organization. López-Ospina granted the funds to the Women’s Lunch Place, a day shelter that provides nutritious food and individualized services for women who are experiencing homelessness or poverty.

López-Ospina is a long time Walk participant who has achieved “Heart & Sole” status, a participant who raises over $500 each year. Historically, the nation’s oldest continual pledge walk, the Walk for Hunger takes place the first Sunday of May on the Boston Common. The 2021 fundraiser was the second event to be done virtually.

True to its grassroots beginnings, the Walk for Hunger brings community partners, business leaders, walkers, volunteers, public officials, media and residents of all backgrounds together for a united cause. Money raised through the virtual event will fund Project Bread’s urgent COVID-19 hunger-relief response work directly helping individuals and families and advocating at the state and federal levels for expedited and efficient relief for those in need now and in the future.

“Without our walk participants, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do,” says McAleer. “The Walk for Hunger is our largest annual fundraiser. Money raised by Walk participants goes directly to helping people access food during the pandemic and ensures communities have the resources necessary to respond to the hunger crisis now and over the long road to recovery ahead.

Likeminded organizations that fundraised as part of The Commonwealth program by forming teams raised money to support their own work, while also furthering the statewide effort. This year 28 nonprofits participated in this program and raised more than $165,000 and counting, toward their own anti-hunger local efforts to be awarded in grants later this year.

Historically, the Walk for Hunger, the nation’s oldest continual pledge walk, takes place the first Sunday of May on the Boston Common. This year’s event included Facebook Live check-ins throughout the day with McAleer, elected officials, including Senator Sal DiDomenico and State Representative Andy Vargas, and with messages from national hunger leader, Congressman Jim McGovern, as well as Attorney General Maura Healy, MA Department of Transitional Assistance Commissioner Amy Kershaw, MA, along with Project Bread employees, individual walkers and volunteers posting and sharing their experiences along their neighborhood routes and why they are walking to help end hunger. Families with kids, people with dogs, and teams of corporate employees, many of whom haven’t seen each other in more than a year, all found creative ways to infuse feelings of unity and connectedness into the day virtually, on social media.

“Our walk community always inspires us,” says McAleer. “The people of Massachusetts showed up in a big way even during a pandemic. From hosting virtual auctions, to doing family fitness challenges and co-worker relay races, to running alpaca photobooths and walking their own routes, people found a way to raise awareness and money to help those who need it most. Their efforts speak to the potential we have as a community working together to drive change and that is a message that resonates with everyone.”

Donations and personal fundraisers will continue to be made through June 30. To support the Walk for Hunger, visit: www.projectbread.org/walk.

People experiencing food insecurity should call into Project Bread’s toll-free FoodSource Hotline (1-800-645-8333), which provides confidential assistance to connect with food resources, including SNAP benefits, in 180 languages and for the hearing impaired. For more information, visit: www.projectbread.org/get-help.

About Project Bread

Project Bread, the leading statewide anti-hunger nonprofit, connects people and communities in Massachusetts to reliable sources of food while advocating for policies that make food more accessible—so that no one goes hungry. For more information, visit: www.projectbread.org.

###