Janelle Monáe Honoured With Inspiration Awards At Support + Feed Event
Janelle Monáe has been celebrated with an Inspiration Award, presented at Support+Feed’s first-ever annual fundraiser and dinner in Los Angeles on 24 October.
The plant-based food initiative founded by Billie Eilish’s mother, Maggie Baird, brought together influential activists, philanthropists and artists for a night of awareness on environmental issues, the climate crisis and sustainability.
After being awarded for her long-standing commitment to activism and her initiative Wondalunch, which in partnership with Support+Feed provided meals and pantry items to families across Los Angeles, Monáe delivered a speech about what it means to “be of service.” She spoke of her grandmother, mother, stepfather and father’s achiements in serving their communities.
“I am a child of service,” Monáe told the crowd. “I remember what it was like not to have food on the table. What is it like what it was like for Thanksgiving and Christmas, to have to get canned goods from your church, or the Salvation Army, or an aunt or your grandmother — I remember that. I remember the stigma of what it was to be poor and how we treated poor people. I remember being embarrassed using my mother’s EBT card… and so all I’ve wanted to do and what I wanted to do with Support + Feed and with Wondalunch, is to erase that narrative.”
Since its inception in 2020, Support+Feed has been steadily expanding and has reached 41 cities globally, with a hand in 11 cities across the US, and is now expanding through partnerships in the EU, UK and Australia. The organization has distributed nearly 400,000 plant-based meals and pantry items alongside educational programming to underserved communities, per a press release. They’ve partnered with Eilish and Paramore as well as festivals such as Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water and Lollapalooza.
Earlier this year, released the album The Age Of Pleasure, featuring the hit single Lipstick Lover.