How March of Dimes Provided More Than 65,000 Meals and Expanded Direct Service Offerings for New Moms with Goodr’s Hunger Solutions

Overview:

As a leading organization for moms and babies, March of Dimes saw a partnership with Goodr as an opportunity to address one of the social determinants of health for moms – food insecurity. For March of Dimes, a food distribution initiative needed three things:

• A partner with deep expertise in food logistics and distribution
• Custom menu that supports maternal health
• A positive and shame-free environment that welcomes any mom facing food insecurity.

By leveraging one of Goodr’s Hunger Solutions, the Pop-Up Grocery Market, March of Dimes Georgia held a food distribution event for hundreds of Atlanta mothers that accomplished all three goals.  The Pop-Up Grocery Market solution allowed Goodr to showcase their expertise, enabling the March of Dimes GA team to leverage their own strengths and confidently ensure the event would be executed with minimal oversight. With a successful first event, the Goodr and March of Dimes partnership has continued to thrive in Atlanta and has grown to new markets across the country.

When Tamara Mason, Director of Maternal and Child Health Collective Impact for March of Dimes Atlanta, was shown a video of the Goodr Pop-Up Grocery Market on social media by a team member, the two saw an opportunity. “We thought what a great way to address a social determinant of health, food insecurity, among pregnant women,” said Mason.

While the 86-year-old national organization is well-known for its work with moms and babies, Tamara explains March of Dimes mission simply and clearly: “Our primary purpose is to ensure all moms have a healthy pregnancy and are able to deliver a baby that is healthy, strong, and full-term, which is considered 39-40 weeks.”  She continued with the broader belief that all moms should be able to experience this regardless of race, location, or income – which requires closing the healthy equity gap.

The Challenge:

To make real progress in closing the healthy equity gap for moms, March of Dimes focuses on addressing the social determinants of health – the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes such as food access, climate change, and more. Tamara shares that March of Dimes’ work has expanded over the years because “in order to prevent babies being born too soon, we also have to look at the health of the mom.” With food access being a social determinant of health and prenatal nutrition playing such an important role in maternal and infant health, launching a food distribution initiative could be deeply impactful.

While March of Dimes is the expert in healthy moms, babies, and pregnancies, Tamara knew building a food distribution initiative would require a partner to execute efficiently and effectively. Given the specific demographic that March of Dimes serves, a partner would need to have a few key skills:

• A full-service partner to manage the logistics and execution of food distribution;
• A customizable menu that could cater to maternal health;
• An event experience that prioritizes dignity and prevents any mom from feeling shame for participating.

Enter Goodr.

The Solution:

Once the March of Dimes Georgia team saw Goodr’s unique and innovative work in a social media video, March of Dimes reached out to establish a connection. Within weeks, the March of Dimes Georgia and Goodr partnership began, and the first distribution event was being planned. With a desire to serve hundreds of Georgia moms free and fresh food in a quick, safe and easy manner, March of Dimes decided to leverage Goodr’s Pop-Up Grocery Market – the company’s signature Hunger Solution.

In April 2022, the March of Dimes and Goodr Pop-Up Grocery Market served free groceries to 200 new and expectant mothers in Atlanta at the Center for Black Women’s’ Wellness. Goodr handled all logistics, grocery procurement, and distribution, as well as securing a DJ to create a lively energy and videographer to document the experience. With the event fully handled, the March of Dimes team was free to engage the community, share maternal health information, and distribute diapers and wipes.

The Outcome:

March of Dimes Georgia’s first Pop-Up Grocery Market proved a tremendous success and supported hundreds of new and expectant mothers. Through the event, March of Dimes was able to accomplish its goals in one high energy event:

• Provide a full-scale grocery distribution event with no extra work from their team;
• Connect with hundreds of mothers and share March of Dimes resources;
• Offer a custom mom-friendly menu of grocery offerings including items like oatmeal, peanut butter, and other high protein products.

Not long after, word spread about the impact of this first event. Soon, March of Dimes teams from across the country sought to replicate the initiative for moms and babies in their markets. Thanks to Goodr’s full-service approach to Hunger Solutions, March of Dimes teams across the country could add to their direct service offerings, provide thoughtful and free groceries for the community it serves, and execute a fun and impactful event that is welcoming to a mom from any walk of life – all without any additional lift from their teams. Talk about a triple win.

To date, the March of Dimes and Goodr partnership has grown to two other states. As of January 2024, March of Dimes has held nine Hunger Solutions activations with Goodr in three different markets.

What comes next?

“March of Dimes looks forward to a continued partnership with Goodr and exploring new opportunities,” said Tamara.