Grab your keys, grab a friend, and go make a sandwich. This simple vision has empowered Feed the City to provide meals for over 8 million people in need and break three Guinness World Records.
“Our mission is to educate, nourish and empower communities through healthy and nutritious food,” said Nick Marino, the volunteer executive director of Feed the City. “We started in January of 2015 with one monthly event. We’re now at 40 monthly events all around the country.”
Feed the City began through a mobile app called TangoTab. Beginning in 2012, TangoTab fed people in need for every check-in at a restaurant. Tango Charities grew out of the company, eventually becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit after several years of Feed the City events.
“The Tango Tab app was all about dining out, and people stopped dining out [because of
Covid-19],” Marino said. “I said I would continue to run the nonprofit arm of Tango Charities as a volunteer executive director. We still continue to do the city events that we started 10 years ago, [like our] Cultivate Garden programs and our Weekend Warrior programs, which help with kids' meals over the weekend.”
As they grew, Feed the City broke records—literally. In 2016, 2,586 volunteers gathered at a
Dallas convention center to make sandwiches together. Together, they broke the Guinness World Record for the most people making sandwiches simultaneously. Other Guinness records that the organization has broken include the most sandwiches made in one hour (their record: 57,662) and the longest line of sandwiches (10,852 sandwiches).
“Beyond just the meals going out, this impacts the people that are actually volunteering as well,” Marino said. “You have people volunteering for the first time with their kids, and young, future leaders having their first experience and making an impact.”
Marino met Orion Jean when Orion was just 6 years old, interviewing him for a school project. Years down the line, Orion was named Time Magazine Kid of the Year.
“He's all over the place now, but he's become a little mentee of mine,” Marino said. “Just to see something like that spark from our events is awesome. You never know where these young kids will go and head.”
Today, over 100,000 volunteers have signed up for these events, ready to get their gloves on and sandwiches prepped. At each event, volunteers bring enough materials for each participant to make 25 to 30 sandwiches. After gathering materials, participants form groups to make sandwiches in an assembly line.
“We partner with different food pantries, soup kitchens, after-school programs, senior facilities or veteran nonprofits that will receive the meals, and then they distribute them on their own time, through their own means,” Marino said. “We're not replacing organizations that are out there. We're here to help them put more food on their shelves.”
“I call it the best hobby I could have,” Marino said. “I can't tell you what city we will be at next, because it's whatever volunteer reaches out to us that wants to lead an event. We want to bring this to more cities, because there's no zip code out there that is immune to hunger.”
To volunteer with Feed the City, simply visit www.tangocharities.org. The organization is
looking for volunteers, especially in new cities that are looking to set up events in their own
hometowns.
Feed the City works to educate, empower, and nourish communities through volunteer-led events preparing meals. Volunteers of all ages can participate, though minors must be accompanied by an adult. To register for an event or start one in your hometown, visit tangocharities.org and stay updated with their email newsletter. Search Tango Charities on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram for more.