Roughly 1 in 7 people in our state are struggling to provide a healthy meal for themselves or their household.  (Feeding Louisiana) www.Feedinglouisiana.org  According to a 2023 report compiled by Feeding America, 13.8% of seniors living in Metro New Orleans are food insecure. That it is higher than any other metro area in the United States.  28.2% of children living in Metro New Orleans are food insecure. That is the second highest rate of food insecurity in the United States.  Gladewaves was founded in 2017 by Janie Glade. The organization obtained the federal tax status of 501(c)3 and was designated a Louisiana Community Non-profit in 2018. The purpose of Gladewaves is to provide food, education and companionship to the Metro New Orleans area. These goals are achieved through five community programs: 1. Big Red Box Barrier Free Food Pantries, 2. Senior Outreach Lunch & Learn Programs, 3. Community Food Program, 4. Thanksgiving Meals Program and 5. Holiday Meals Program.  Since it's beginning Gladewaves has provided over 840,000 barrier free meals to the community through our programming.  We provide food for those individuals who fall between the poverty line (and are not allowed access to federal food programs) and the current standard of living or the A.L.I.C.E. threshold. ALICE, a United Way acronym which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and represents the increasing number of individuals and families who work, but are unable to meet their basic needs, including food, child care, housing, health care and transportation. This is the fastest growing demographic in the United States.  All of our meals are barrier free and our reach in the community has tripled since our beginning with no signs of slowing down.  We currently serve the people in the seven parishes that make up the Metro New Orleans area.  We have 14 barrier free Big Red Box food pantries, 7 monthly Senior Outreach luncheons, deliver 500 hot Thanksgiving meals with backpacks and winter coats and 500 14lb turkeys and accompanying bags of groceries the third Thursday of December.  We will resume our Community Food Program (which delivers 8,000 hot meals to senior citizens in 21 zip codes in June and July)@Gladewaves in 2025.