September is Hunger Action Month, and the Notre Dame family is ready to tip off another season of Meals With Muffet! Thanks to your support in 2024, we collected nearly 103,000 pounds of food and dollars combined to help box out hunger across the U.S.
THE GAME PLAN
In her retirement, former Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw has spent her time boxing out hunger and leading neighborhood food drives in South Bend. Now, she’s inviting you to get off the sidelines and join Meals With Muffet.
Meals With Muffet is a nationwide food drive for clubs, groups, families, and individuals to team up in the fight against hunger in their communities during National Hunger Action Month in September. In the United States, more than 37 million people, and more than 11 million children, remain food insecure.
Meals With Muffet is a partnership between Coach McGraw, Bread of Life Drive, Holtz’s Heroes Foundation, Inc., and the Notre Dame Alumni Association. Together, we can join forces to defeat hunger!
Join us as we team up to beat hunger!
THE X’S AND O’S
Getting involved with Meals With Muffet is simple.
1. Coordinate your group
Decide whether you want to participate as an individual, a family, or a group. Then, contact your group and set up a time and location that works best.
2. Contact your local food bank
Contact your local food bank to inform them of your project, discuss a preferred drop-off time, and cover any regulations. (This tool from Feeding America can help you find your local organization.) Some food banks may not be collecting items at this time. If so, you can still get involved with Meals With Muffet by making a monetary donation to your local food bank.
3. Publicize your food drive
Consider using flyers, local media, or social media to promote your drive. Be sure to include important information, like date, time, location, and goal. Include contact information for questions. During the drive, snap photos and share on social media by using #MealsWithMuffet.
4. Collect and deliver
Finally, get your team together and collect food! Keep track of your total donations, and deliver to help feed those in need in your community.
Please use this form to track your collection and enter your address to receive a free Meals With Muffet reusable shopping bag. If you were part of a group, please only submit information once.
THE STAFF
Muffet McGraw
Muffet McGraw was Notre Dame’s women’s basketball coach from 1987-2020. In her 33 seasons, McGraw went 848-252 (.771), winning two National Championship titles (2001, 2018), and 25 regular-season and conference tournament championships. McGraw was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017 and ranks sixth all-time among NCAA Division I coaches with 936 career wins.
A lifelong advocate for social justice and women’s equality, McGraw has expanded her efforts to hunger relief in retirement. You can follow her on X, @MuffetMcGraw.
Bread of Life Drive
The Bread of Life Drive (BOLD) is an annual food drive organized by the Notre Dame Club of Staten Island. BOLD collections take place in the spring to bridge the gap between holiday food drives and to benefit local nonprofit organizations.
The Notre Dame Club of Staten Island organized the first BOLD in 1992 in recognition of the University’s 150-year anniversary. Since its inception, the Staten Island BOLD has collected more than 1,285,000 non-perishable food items, inspiring similar food drives from Notre Dame clubs across the country. To learn more about BOLD, watch this video from its 25-year anniversary or visit the Notre Dame Club of Staten Island website.
Holtz’s Heroes Foundation, Inc.
Holtz’s Heroes Foundation, Inc., named in honor of Coach Lou Holtz and his players at Notre Dame, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing financial assistance for the educational needs of underserved students and supporting charitable and educational activities and organizations within the communities of its members.
Holtz’s Heroes supports the Lou’s Lads Endowed Scholarship, the Bobby Satterfield Fund, and has partnered with Bread of Life Drives since 2015.
Notre Dame Alumni Association
The Notre Dame Alumni Association works for the University’s alumni, parents, and friends, to strengthen the bonds to Notre Dame and each other. It helps them thrive in faith, service, learning, and work and inspires them to act as forces for good in their communities and the world.