MAZON in the News

This article was originally published in The Detroit Jewish News on November 19, 2024.

Temple Israel hosted a curated presentation about this digital-only museum.

These days, it is common for top museums around the world to have robust web galleries and virtual exhibits available online to all with internet access. What is much more novel is a museum that exists solely in the digital world yet has all the galleries and exhibits one would expect to see in a physical space. The Hunger Museum is precisely the latter.

MAZON worked with a team of architects, historians and designers, all with experience creating physical museums, to envision and build the fully virtual Hunger Museum, which launched in March 2023.

Recently, a group of community members gathered at Temple Israel to learn about MAZON and experience a curated presentation of the Hunger Museum.

“It was conceived by Abby J. Leibman and MAZON’s leadership as an unprecedented exploration into the social and political history of hunger and anti-hunger policy — how the U.S. almost ended hunger, and how we can work together to do it again,” shared Liza Lieberman, vice president of public affairs at MAZON.

“The museum’s digital nature and accessibility were motivated by shifting perceptions of virtual resources during the pandemic.”

Carolyn Schwarz Tisdale of Detroit, who recently began her term as chair of MAZON’s national board of directors, said, ​​“MAZON has a well-earned reputation as one of the most impactful and innovative nonprofits in the Jewish community, and it’s an honor to serve as the organization’s board chair.

“I was delighted to host MAZON’s Board and staff leadership in Detroit, and I was proud to share MAZON’s amazing Hunger Museum with the Detroit Jewish community,” Schwarz Tisdale said.

“I hope everyone learned about hunger and anti-hunger history and will join me in supporting MAZON, joining our advocacy efforts, and sharing their incredible resources with others.”

Rabbi Joshua L. Bennett of Temple Israel said, “MAZON is an incredible organization working to end hunger in America. Their efforts have led directly to legislation that supports our mission to be a community-facing congregation.

“The partnership between private sector religious institutions and governmental support is the only way to eradicate food insecurity in our country,” he added. “Without the work of MAZON, we would be years behind in the pursuit of our goals.”

Naama Haviv, MAZON’s vice president of community engagement, led the virtual tour.

“We at MAZON approach our work not by distributing food, but by working to change the systems that allow hunger to persist,” Haviv said. “We are dedicated to protecting, strengthening and expanding the nutrition safety net, investing in our country’s anti-hunger infrastructure, and working to shift both the public and political narrative about who is hungry in America, why they’re struggling and what can be done about it.

“That’s where our Hunger Museum comes in — it’s an entirely virtual, deeply researched resource that tells the story that it is possible to solve hunger. But to achieve this, we need two things,” she added.

“We need the American public to understand hunger as a systemic issue, and we need the government to respond — expansively, comprehensively and without judgment about why someone has been brought to the point of needing assistance. What it takes, really, is all of us.”

According to Abby J. Leibman, MAZON’s president and CEO, “This year, MAZON is celebrating our 40th anniversary, marking four decades of advocacy, community engagement and education, and leading the fight against hunger in the U.S. and Israel.

“We are so proud of all that MAZON has accomplished in the last 40 years — both in terms of building anti-hunger advocacy infrastructure and advancing key policy solutions to end hunger at various levels of government — but we have much more work ahead of us.

“With more than 47 million people facing hunger in the U.S., we cannot accept the status quo. That number is ahead of pre-pandemic levels and marks a nearly 40% increase in just two years. It is completely unacceptable that our policymakers are allowing food insecurity rates to move in the wrong direction. I look forward to working closely with our partners, including the remarkable Detroit Jewish community, to achieve our goal of making hunger history.”