How a nonprofit founded by Maggie Baird, mom of Billie Eilish, provides hot meals to Atlanta youth

In Atlanta on Saturday for the annual Captain Planet Foundation gala, Maggie Baird won the Superhero of the Earth award for her work with the nonprofit Support + Feed, which fights food insecurity amid climate change.

The actress and philanthropist started her career in the 1980s and made her mark on Broadway, TV and films. But today she is best known as the mother of pop stars Billie Eilish and Finneas, both of whom are vegan and outspoken about the role of sustainability in building a better future. 

In light of Baird's own upbringing surrounded by nature in Colorado and the environmental concerns expressed by her Gen Z kids raised in Los Angeles, she founded Support + Feed in 2020.

The group works in 11 U.S. cities and select international locations to provide plant-based meals and support to a cross-section of people — from those affected by the Southern California wildfires to at-risk LGBTQ+ youth and have touch points with many organizations right here in Georgia, including PAD Initiative, Women on the Rise, Atlanta Community Food Bank, Georgia Micro Enterprise Network, Making A Way Housing and more.

So, why Atlanta?

Before taking the stage at the Captain Planet event, Baird told GPB Atlanta is a perfect candidate for her group's work because it has "high need of food, high incidence of food inequity and a high prevalence of being affected by climate, too."

Although Atlanta may not seem as vulnerable to the climate crisis as other parts of the country (and Yale University even named it a top destination for future migrations due to rising sea levels), extreme heat affects workers and crops, in both rural areas and cities, and all climate crises affect certain communities disproportionately.

"So that's really one of our predominant reasons: Atlanta is an incredibly vibrant city with a high need, but also amazing community involvement," Baird said.

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Billie Eilish (left) and mom Maggie Baird (right) appear on stage with climate activists at the Overheated conference at Atlanta's State Farm Arena on Nov. 3, 2024.

Credit: YouTube (screenshot)

When Billie Eilish's 2024 tour stopped in at the State Farm Arena in November, that same day Baird participated in fireside chats at the Overheated climate conference for 300 young changemakers, scientists and advocates along with Atlanta hip-hop duo EarthGang, who talked about their own work to teach metro school children to garden.

Baird said Support + Feed works with restaurants and some farmer's markets to provide hot meals and produce to communities in need and to advocate that a plant-based diet minus meat and dairy products is healthier for the climate long term. The group has donated more than 1.5 million meals and pantry items.

"We're trying to make the whole picture," Baird said. "There are so many organizations that are very siloed in what they do, and especially with food, food is so impactful for the climate crisis. An increase in consumption of plant-based food provides health benefits and requires less land, water and energy, "so why not do that with programs of feed people?"

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Support + Feed leadership meets with Lost-N-Found leaders in Atlanta in 2024.

Neena Beausoleil is the program director at Atlanta nonprofit Lost-N-Found Youth, a group that provides street outreach, food and shelter for LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. (GPB first reported on the organization during the pandemic.)

She told GPB that Support + Feed approached her a few years ago about helping out. Since that time, the organization has provided dozens of plant-based hot meals weekly delivered to Lost-N-Found from locally owned Atlanta restaurants. These deliveries supplement a meal train organized by volunteers who bring casseroles or donate food. 

"It's been so amazing to have these meals readily available to the youth," Beausoleil said, adding that Baird had come to give an "eye-opening" presentation to her residents about the carbon footprint of vegan food.

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Lost -N-Found Youth is a small organization, but program director Neena Beausoleil says regular deliveries of vegan bowls make a difference in feeding eight residents and visitors to its drop-in meal service.

Credit: Lost-N-Found Youth Atlanta

Lost-N-Found Executive Director Melanea Alvarez said the meals are a foundational part of the 90-day-program that aims to help marginalized young people between 18 to 25 to become self-sufficient and live independently.

 "There are a lot of days that it just really pulls on your heart strings," she said. "But I tell you what: Nothing is is more fulfilling than when a youth that has left our program comes back and they want to share with you what their experiences have been since they walked out the door ... and how successful they've been. But also, if they leave and they're struggling, they know that we're still here."