How U.S. Hunger connects leaders and data using Amazon Quick

For U.S. Hunger, feeding families takes more than delivering food to them. It takes understanding the people behind each request, the pressures they face, and the business that makes the mission possible. That means connecting information across the organization. Its mission is to feed families today and unite them to a healthier tomorrow.

U.S. Hunger reports delivering more than 250 million meals. Its work has reached 59 countries historically and is now concentrated primarily in the United States. The organization reports approximately 500 percent growth over four years, compared with only 15–20 percent headcount growth. For a lean team at that scale, every hour and every decision matters.

With Amazon Quick , U.S. Hunger can explore organizational data directly, colleagues can work from shared definitions, and leaders can examine financial information alongside the circumstances families report. U.S. Hunger’s experience shows how those capabilities fit into the daily work of a lean nonprofit.

U.S. Hunger uses Amazon Quick Research to investigate current events, inform communications, and connect policy questions with its survey data. The CEO is also exploring how that data could serve a wider audience. With the version history in Quick Research, he can revisit earlier versions as he refines an investigation.

Understanding food insecurity requires information about who is struggling and the circumstances behind that struggle. In September 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it would end future Household Food Security Reports. With that longstanding reporting series ending, access to other sources of evidence becomes especially important.

With over a decade of financial documents available in the Space, Rick can ask Quick to compare patterns over time and explore questions about current operations. His familiarity with the source material helps him check the answers and challenge conclusions the evidence doesn’t support.

Together, these workflows help Rick use Quick to explore both sides of the organization’s mission: understanding the families who need support and planning the finances that help U.S. Hunger provide it.

Rick Whitted spent 30 years in banking before making the leap to lead U.S. Hunger. His connection to food insecurity, however, began long before that career change.

When Rick and his wife were in their mid-twenties, he left his career to start a business. They lost everything. Even though he went to work every day, they relied on help from family to get by. He remembers coming home to find a pantry box on the table, left by aunts or grandparents. Seeing that box broke him.

More than 20 years later, when the board chair asked him to consider leading U.S. Hunger, his wife reminded him of those days, when their own family needed help putting food on the table. To her, leading U.S. Hunger was a chance to help families going through what they had experienced themselves. Rick cried, called the chair back, and accepted.