This month I’m raising awareness about Hunger and calling on my local Salesforce Communities to help me raise $2500 for our San Diego Food Bank – that’s 12,500 meals to distribute to those in need. In 2015, the United Nations set 17 Sustainable Development Goals to call attention to real world issues like poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working for the Girl Scouts in my previous life, I was very familiar with the predecessor to this, the Millennium Development Goals, which were established in 2000. I was so excited a few years ago when Salesforce started talking about the SDG’s at Dreamforce. I remember I took a quiz and there was a photo booth where I could take a picture with the SDG I was most passionate about. And I saw the SDG’s again at the inaugural Trailblazer Summit.
What is Salesforce doing to help meet the SDG’s?
Based on this report, Salesforce has identified 6 goals that align most to their business: 4: Quality Education, 5: Gender Equality, 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, and 13: Climate Action. While 2: Hunger isn’t on this list, its still awesome that they are committed to so many of these goals and that they are actively working towards improvements in each area. Just because it isn’t on the big screen doesn’t mean they aren’t putting in the work, and that makes me feel really great.
They even have a Trail on Trailhead devoted to the SDG’s. If you take the trail, which I totally recommend, you’ll learn about each SDG and get links to valuable resources. My favorite part of this Trail, is the module on the Future Trailblazer Challenge. This module outlines the Future Trailblazer Challenge program and how you can get involved. It reminds me of my days working for the Girl Scouts and I’ve been dying to get a program up and running in my area since I learned about it in 2019 (but haven’t…). During the Challenge, you teach a group of youth about the SDG’s, connecting them with real use cases and issues and inspire them to make a difference. Along the way, they also learn how to use technology (like Salesforce) to help solve real world problems. AND THEN THEY DO. They choose an SDG and go for it, applying the knowledge they’ve gained during the program to an actionable project. When I first saw this at Dreamforce, I had the amazing opportunity (like everyone did) to walk through some projects and they were incredible. These kids had built technology that removed plastic from oceans, encouraged recycling, and so much more. This is something that I am so passionate about!
As an AmeriCorps member in my past life, I created and ran service learning programs for Girl Scouts in Southern Arizona. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Youth, specifically girls, will never cease to amaze you with what they can come up with as solutions to real world problems, and then they take that inspiration and knowledge and grow up to be amazing people, still working to change the world.
But anyways, back to the Future Trailblazer Challenge! Taken from the module, “the Future Trailblazer Challenge is meant to inspire young students to care about and act on sustainability challenges which their generation will face. It empowers them to blaze new trails to address the world’s greatest challenges.” I love this! So even though 2: Zero Hunger isn’t necessarily a Salesforce goal, they are empowering the next generation to tackle all 17 SDG’s, including Hunger. This aligns with 4: Quality Education on the Salesforce side but ends up being so much more powerful!
So, what am I doing?
In my previous life, I organized lots of Food Drives, raising awareness all over Southern Arizona and collecting thousands of pounds of food for those in need. Of course, I’m doing that again now in San Diego with our #ForceForFood Virtual Food Drive, but we can do more. I feel like I try to make sustainable food choices, but don’t always get it right because of time or money. There are actually a few different components of the Zero Hunger goal:
- End hunger
- Achieve food security and improved nutrition
- Promote sustainable agriculture
Here are some things that I (and you!) can do to help achieve these goals:
- Support local farmers and markets
- Make sustainable food choices
- Support good nutrition for everyone
- Fight food waste
- Use your power as a consumer and voter
- Take the Zero Hunger Challenge (this is an older program but has great resources still active)
- Donate to your local Food Bank (or to our Virtual Food Drive!)
Force For Fun 
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