Feeding America and Tony Robbins’ 1 Billion Meals Challenge Smashes Goal Two Years Ahead of Schedule

Today, Feeding America, America's leading hunger relief organization, and Tony Robbins, #1 New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and the world's #1 life and business strategist, proudly announce achieving their monumental 1 Billion Meals Challenge goal.

This milestone, part of a unique 10-year challenge match campaign to fight hunger and food insecurity in the U.S., was reached significantly ahead of the 2025 target. 

"At 11, I experienced first-hand the life-changing power of receiving food when a stranger knocked on our door on Thanksgiving, sharing two giant bags of groceries and a frozen turkey with our struggling family. This act of kindness profoundly influenced my mission to help people facing hunger,” Robbins said. “At the start, did I think one day I, with the help of many giving people, would feed millions of people? No. Over time, we went from supporting two families, four families, a million families, four million families, and now 44 million families.” 

Building off his efforts to create the volunteer-led International Basket Brigade program providing food and household items to neighbors in need, Robbins in 2012 became an ambassador for Feeding America and quickly established a moonshot: the 2014 Tony Robbins/Feeding America 100 Million Meals Challenge. 

Within two years, the Challenge helped provide 100 million meals through Feeding America’s network of partner food banks and matching donations from Tony and many other Feeding America supporters.  

That led to the next evolution: The 100 Million Meals Challenge became the 1 Billion Meals Challenge.   

Robbins swiftly amplified his personal and business giving to the 1 Billion Meals Challenge, regularly matching donations by other generous donors and donating proceeds from his best-selling books. As the number of people experiencing food insecurity grew exponentially during the recent pandemic, Robbins donated an additional $10 million to the joint Feeding America campaign.  

“We are deeply grateful to Tony and all who joined in the Challenge to reach this level of contribution to our shared mission,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. “In Mr. Robbins, what could be—and should be—comes to life. Thanks to his incredible passion, commitment, and generosity, we have accomplished the extraordinary goal of helping to provide 1 billion meals nearly two years early. Mr. Robbins is an extraordinary partner, not only giving and asking others to give but also raising his voice to build awareness around the issue of hunger for families in our great country and worldwide. We are fortunate to have him stand with us, and we are inspired by his conviction that we can end food insecurity.”  

With the 1 billion meals milestone achieved, Mr. Robbins sets his sights even higher – aiming to end global food insecurity. Robbins recently announced he joined forces with Governor David Beasley, former Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, which won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize under his watch, to create The 100 Billion Meals Challenge & The Future of Food Initiative. 

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About Feeding America

Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 5.3 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.