As we enter into the upcoming holiday season, there are people making a difference, many of them through No Kid Hungry, a national non-profit striving to end childhood hunger in America. This organization is powered by people in thousands of communities dedicated to making a difference where children live, learn, and play.
vimeo.com/115003967
Going back to the idea of school, we all know the adage that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Yet there are millions of children who come to school hungry, thus unable to focus and unable to learn. No Kid Hungry proposes moving school breakfast programs from before school to after the school day begins where kids eat in the classroom. The traditional problems of late buses, children being singled out from their classmates, and pressure on parents to get children to school early would be less consequential.
When schools break for the summer, the children relying on the school lunch program now lose that steady source of food. No Kid Hungry attempts to eliminate that gap by working with local communities to improve summer meal sites, and with the state and federal governments to ensure that red tape and government restrictions don’t get in the way of kids and meals.
Completing its three-pronged approach, No Kid Hungry focuses on where children live. There are 48.8 million Americans - including 16.2 million children - living in households that lack the means to get enough nutritious food on a regular basis. The organization runs a program called Cooking Matters where they teach low-income families how to maximize their grocery dollars, stretching their SNAP benefits to shop smartly and cook quick, nutritious meals at home.
Think you'd like to join No Kid Hungry in making a difference? Consider hosting a bake sale! Whether it's at your school, church, an upcoming holiday event, or even letting your Mini Macaronis bake items for you to take into your workplace. You can see examples of previous bake sale success and access resources to help your event at www.bake.nokidhungry.org.
If you’d like to help as an individual family, you can also donate directly to No Kid Hungry. Your donation supports each of the areas mentioned above, as well as helps the organization provide grants to the most effective hunger-fighting organizations across the country to help them end child hunger in their communities. Did you know that in many places, just $1 can provide a child with up to 10 meals?
Learn more about the successes of No Kid Hungry — and the needs they are still working to meet — at www.nokidhungry.org.
