Hatch, self-described as the United States' largest nonprofit focused on protein insecurity, launched a national crowdfunding campaign on World Hunger Day in partnership with the CDC Foundation, targeting what the organization calls a systemic and underreported gap in the country's food-assistance network: reliable access to protein.
The campaign, branded "The Missing Piece," went live May 28 and is designed to mobilize individual donors alongside institutional supporters. Hatch has not disclosed a specific fundraising target or timeline for the initiative, but positioned the crowdfunding drive as one component of a multi-pronged capital strategy intended to build durable protein-distribution infrastructure for food banks nationwide.
Protein insecurity — defined broadly as insufficient access to meat, legumes, dairy and other high-protein foods — is treated by Hatch as a distinct category within the wider hunger conversation, one that the organization argues receives disproportionately little philanthropic and policy attention relative to caloric food insecurity. The U.S. food-bank system has long flagged protein as among its most difficult and costly categories to source and distribute at scale, given the cold-chain requirements and perishability of animal proteins in particular. The food manufacturing and processing sector has increasingly engaged with these logistics challenges as procurement costs and refrigeration infrastructure demands intensify.
The CDC Foundation's involvement lends the campaign public-health credibility, framing protein access not solely as a hunger issue but as a nutrition and chronic-disease-prevention concern. Tony Robbins is cited among the hunger advocates aligned with the broader initiative, though Hatch did not disclose the financial or operational nature of his participation.
The Carmel, Indiana-based nonprofit indicated the crowdfunding effort feeds into a longer-term plan requiring what it described as "necessary infrastructure" — suggesting future capital raises or partnership announcements may follow. Observers in the nonprofit food-security funding space will watch whether the CDC Foundation's brand association accelerates donor acquisition beyond Hatch's existing base. No matching-gift arrangement or corporate sponsor commitments were announced at launch.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.