Giving Back

WE DONATE 20% OF PROFITS TO CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS WORKING TO FEED COMMUNITIES, ADVANCE HUMAN RIGHTS, AND PROTECT THE PLANET.

Every purchase you make helps us support important causes like these.

Repurposing Excess Food by Creating Meals

Building A Better Food System

38 million Americans, including 12 million children, lack reliable access to nutritious meals. Meanwhile, 40% of the country's food supply goes uneaten yearly. There is enough food in the system, but it's not getting into the hands of those who need it. Rethink Food exists to bridge that gap.

Founded in 2017, Rethink Food is an NYC-Based, national nonprofit that aims to create a more sustainable and equitable food system. They do this in two ways.

First, they partner with restaurants that prepare meals for local communities impacted by food insecurity in exchange for a small grant. Some restaurants specifically fundraise by adding a surcharge to their checks. These meal makers are 80% minority—or women-owned or women-led businesses.

Second, Rethink Food operates a community kitchen in Greenwich Village, which converts donated and excess food from a wide range of partners across the food system, such as distributors, purveyors, and corporations, into an average of 15,000 weekly meals delivered cost-free to community-based organizations (CBOs).

As Rethink Food’s preferred compostable food packaging supplier, Good Start Packaging has donated over $115,000 to support their work.

To inquire about being a restaurant partner, donating your excess food, volunteering, and more visit RethinkFood.org.

Feeding Hungry School Children

Today we are facing an unprecedented global food crisis, and kids are paying the price. Outside of the U.S., 153 million children under 18 are facing extreme levels of malnutrition. That’s 3x the entire U.S. student population from pre-k to 12th grade and is only expected to rise.

The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) is the world's largest provider of school meals, working in 57 countries to reach 18 million children with school meals, snacks, and take-home rations. Their school meals program strengthens educational opportunities, provides critical nutritional support, promotes gender equality, and supports small-scale farmers.

We are thrilled to partner with WFP and support their mission to end childhood hunger. To date, we've donated $292,121 or 1,168,485 school meals to communities in need across the globe.

Providing school meals provides much-needed nutritional support for kids and increases enrollment and attendance by an average of 9%, especially for girls. It is one of the most essential and efficient social safety nets for communities. Healthy, educated children can grow up to find work, become leaders, and raise their own families one day.

School meals also help parents reroute their money to other pressing needs like hygiene items, healthcare, and rent, which are just as critical for children. With support from the U.N. World Food Program, small-scale farmers also provide the ingredients for school meals. This homegrown approach ensures children have nutritious meals, builds resilient food systems, and boosts local economies.

Learn more about the WFP and consider giving at WFP.org.

164 million children in sub-Saharan Africa have no drinking water service at their schools, and 215 million children attend schools without basic sanitation.

Supplying Clean Water in Africa

Globally, 1 in 9 people have no access to clean water. In the communities served by The Water Project, it's 9 out of 9. Without water you can't grow food, you can't build housing, you can't stay healthy, you can't stay in school and you can't keep working. We're working to change that.

Finding water is a daily challenge for communities in Africa, particularly young girls, moms, and sons. They often spend hours fetching water that is frequently dirty and unsafe. This lack of safe water and proper sanitation limits education and food production and leads to illness and disease.

The Water Project helps bring clean water to these communities by providing training, expertise, and financial support for water project construction, as well as ongoing maintenance. The projects include new wells, rehabbed wells, sand dams, rainwater catchment systems, and spring protections, providing long-term and life-changing solutions. This fresh, clean water is used for drinking, sanitation and crop production, but also to give these communities back hope, imagination, education, and dignity.

We’re thrilled to support Kenya's Mbitini, Kasioni, and Kilela Communities. We proudly funded the construction of new wells, hand pumps, and sand dams in these areas, directly impacting nearly 2,000 people who now have ongoing access to clean, safe water.

Learn more about the installation process and the impact these water projects have in these communities. Also, learn about the water crisis in Africa and consider giving at The Water Project.

Making Charitable Events Zero Waste

Scoop San Diego is an annual ice cream festival that brings together over 20 vendors and more than 60 flavors, serving over 40,000 samples to the community all for a great cause.

The 2024 event raised funds for the Berry Good Food Foundation, which supports food security and education programs focused on building a local, regenerative food system in San Diego and Baja California.

To support the event’s zero waste goal, Good Start Packaging supplied all compostable tasting cups and spoons. We also sponsored the exclusive VIP Lounge, providing guests with a cool space to relax and unwind.

We were thrilled to sponsor this sweet celebration of community, sustainability, and flavor. Learn more about the Scoop San Diego and The Berry Good Foundation.

Supporting Seniors with Nutritious Meals

Meals on Wheels provides nutritious meals that help combat hunger, promote independence, and improve overall health to seniors living in central Maryland.

Many seniors face food insecurity and rely on these meals to remain in their homes longer, reducing hospital visits and enhancing quality of life.

Good Start Packaging supports Meals on Wheel's mission through our partnership with Eat Sprout and Upper Shore Aging. Our $8,500 donation helped Eat Sprout cover meal costs and provide over 2,000 meals delivered in compostable packaging to seniors in need in 2024.

This initiative not only nurtures vulnerable communities but also demonstrates how charitable giving and responsible business practices can create a meaningful impact.

Learn more about Meals on Wheels and consider giving at Mealsonwheelsmd.org

Providing Essentials To Ukrainian Families

When our CEO, Ken Jacobus, saw images on TV of thousands of Ukrainian refugees gathered at Warsaw Central train station in Poland, trying to escape the horror of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he thought he could help. So, he booked a one-way flight to Warsaw armed with 6 million American Express Marriot Bonvoy credit card points and a plan to transport, feed, and book Marriott hotel rooms for weary refugees.

Since this fateful flight, Ken and Good Start Packaging have provided support to hundreds of Ukrainian families. To date, we’ve invested over $300,000 in relief efforts for the people of Ukraine and have donated more than $34,000 to UNICEF, the International Red Cross, the International Rescue Committee, and United Ukraine in humanitarian assistance in Poland.

Our focus initially was on providing temporary housing, but as the nature of need has shifted, we’ve concentrated our efforts on supplying food, personal hygiene products, and other daily living essentials for refugees living in Poland. This shift has also been critical as government and non-profit aid started being focused elsewhere.

We’ve also recently sponsored a Ukraine family to relocate to the United States, providing complimentary, furnished lodging while they acquire work permits. They are three of 100,000 refugees allowed entry through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Uniting for Ukraine program. We are excited and grateful to welcome them to the New Hampshire community.

The crisis in Ukraine represents an opportunity for all of us to demonstrate that we’ll stand up to protect basic human rights, the sovereignty of every country, and international laws.

GIVING BACK TO OUR COMMUNITIES

All Good Start Packaging employees receive three days of paid volunteer time each year. We also organize quarterly team service projects near our headquarters in Bedford, New Hampshire. Here are some of the local causes we support.