September is Hunger Action Month, a nationwide effort to raise awareness of hunger and encourage people to take action in their communities. At The Just One Project, that mission is part of our work every day. Through Food For All, we create multiple ways for Southern Nevadans to access fresh groceries, prepared meals, mobile markets, food delivery, and other food resources. Through Community Connect, we help individuals and families address challenges such as housing and employment that can contribute to instability. Hunger Action Month gives us an opportunity to bring greater attention to the issue. Our work continues long after September ends.
Every September, Hunger Action Month creates a national conversation about something millions of households experience throughout the year: not always knowing whether there will be enough food.
The campaign, led nationally by Feeding America, encourages individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and communities to take action against hunger. In 2026, that call comes at a time when the latest available data shows 48 million people in the United States experienced food insecurity in 2024, including more than 14 million children.
At The Just One Project, Hunger Action Month gives us an important opportunity to talk about food insecurity in Southern Nevada and invite more people into the work.
It also gives us an opportunity to share what years of doing this work have taught us:
Hunger requires an immediate response, but ending someone’s experience with food insecurity can require much more.
That understanding shapes how we serve our community during September and every other month of the year.
Hunger Does Not Look the Same for Every Household
When we talk about hunger, it can be easy to imagine one problem with one solution: someone needs food, so we provide groceries.
Food assistance is essential. But access itself can be complicated.
A family may need groceries because rising household expenses have left too little money for food. An older adult may have food available nearby but no reliable way to reach it. Someone with limited mobility may need groceries or prepared meals brought directly to their home. Another household may live in a neighborhood where affordable, nutritious food is difficult to access consistently.
That is why The Just One Project does not rely on one food distribution model.
Our Food For All initiative includes No-Cost Community Markets, Pop Up & Give Mobile Markets, Food is Medicine Farmers Markets, Groceries on the Go, Home Deliveries, Meals on Wheels, Senior Nutrition & Wellness, Emergency Food Assistance, and the Food Rescue Alliance.
Each creates a different path to food.
Together, they allow us to meet people where they are rather than expecting everyone experiencing food insecurity to overcome the same barriers to reach us.
Sometimes the Best Food Program Is the One That Moves
Geography matters more to hunger relief than it may appear.
Southern Nevada includes dense urban neighborhoods as well as communities far beyond central Las Vegas. TJOP food programs currently reach Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Sandy Valley, Indian Springs, Primm, Searchlight, Laughlin, and other areas across the region.
We have learned that increasing food access sometimes means changing where and how food is provided.
Pop Up & Give brings groceries into neighborhoods through mobile market events. Groceries on the Go reaches low-access communities through a mobile grocery model. Food is Medicine Farmers Markets bring fresh produce and resources into community settings. Home Delivery and Meals on Wheels take another approach entirely by bringing food directly to people who cannot readily access an in-person market.
The programs look different because the barriers are different.
That is an important part of hunger action: access should be designed around the people who need it.
Food Meets the Immediate Need. Then We Ask What Comes Next.
One of the most important lessons in TJOP’s evolution has been recognizing that food insecurity often does not exist by itself.
Someone struggling to afford groceries may also be struggling with housing costs or employment. A change in one part of a household budget can quickly affect what is available for food.
Providing groceries can create immediate relief. But if we only address the empty refrigerator without understanding what keeps making it empty, that household may return to the same crisis.
This is why our work has grown beyond food distribution.
Through Community Connect, TJOP provides individualized support across areas including case management, housing assistance, employment readiness, and resource access. The purpose is to help clients address barriers that affect their ability to move toward greater stability and self-sufficiency.
Food For All and Community Connect are not separate answers to unrelated problems.
They reflect the two sides of how we understand food insecurity: people need food today, and some people also need support changing the circumstances that make accessing food difficult tomorrow.
Hunger Action Also Happens Before Food Reaches a Family
Much of the work required to fight hunger happens before a grocery bag reaches someone’s hands.
Our Food Rescue Alliance recovers wholesome surplus food that can be redirected into the community rather than discarded. Volunteers help sort, pack, prepare, distribute, and deliver food. Community partners provide funding, food, locations, expertise, and other resources that extend what our organization can do.
Donors help support the infrastructure behind these programs—transportation, procurement, facilities, staff, equipment, and the many operational pieces required to keep food moving throughout Southern Nevada.
That means there is no single way to participate in Hunger Action Month.
Some people volunteer.
Some donate.
Some businesses become community partners.
Some help raise awareness.
Others connect a neighbor with a food resource they did not know existed.
Hunger is a community issue, which means meaningful action can happen in many different places.
September Can Start Something That Continues All Year
Hunger Action Month matters because attention matters.
For one month, hunger receives a larger national platform. More people learn about food insecurity. Organizations mobilize supporters. Businesses get involved. Communities have conversations that may not happen as often during the rest of the year.
We want to use that attention well.
But the real opportunity is what happens afterward.
A person who volunteers for the first time in September can return in October.
A business that supports a Hunger Action Month initiative can become a long-term community partner.
Someone who learns about a TJOP food program can share that information months later when a friend, neighbor, employee, or family member needs help.
A first-time donor can become a monthly supporter.
Awareness becomes more powerful when it develops into participation.
Our Work Continues After Hunger Action Month
When September ends, the need for food does not.
Our markets will continue opening. Our mobile programs will continue traveling into Southern Nevada communities. Volunteers will continue packing groceries. Drivers will continue making deliveries. Our Food Rescue Alliance will continue recovering food. Case managers will continue working alongside individuals and families trying to build greater stability.
That ongoing work is what Hunger Action Month ultimately points toward.
We can bring attention to hunger in September.
Addressing it requires showing up all year.
Take Action Against Hunger in Southern Nevada
There are many ways to be part of that work.
If you need food assistance, explore The Just One Project’s Food For All programs to find resources available in Southern Nevada.
If you want to help, you can volunteer, make a one-time or monthly donation, organize a fundraiser, or explore a community partnership with TJOP.
And throughout September 2026, Southern Nevada businesses and community members can also participate in Serve It Forward, TJOP’s citywide food and beverage initiative for Hunger Action Month, which turns participating menus into support for local families experiencing hunger.
However you choose to participate, Hunger Action Month offers a place to begin.
The work continues from there.
