On Tuesday, a panel of No Kid Hungry youth ambassadors came together for a town hall to answer questions and talk about their work on summer meals.
“I think we are all very aware that hunger is an issue in our country but most of us are not fully aware of how it actually affects people in our community,” shared Isis Murillo Bravo, based in Hartford, Conn.
As many as 13 million kids — or 1 in 6 — could face hunger this year, but summer is the hungriest time of the year for millions of kids because when schools close for the summer it's much harder to reach kids with the food they need.
Through our Youth Ambassador Program, Isis is one of several young people working to bridge this gap and is dedicated to serving the kids and teens in her community all summer long.
This paid internship gives college students across the country the opportunity to help end childhood hunger in their communities. Through grants, we allow for local nonprofits to host a young person to make a difference. For our youth ambassadors, working so closely with their communities has been an impactful experience.
Sonja Paulson in Fort Collins, Colo. shared, “I am absolutely loving this work and being a part of something bigger than myself” while Guadalupe Lopez in Ada, Okla. says, “The more I hand out meals to the kids and teens, the more excited I am to come back and do it again the next day.”
For some of our youth ambassadors, this internship experience has been eye-opening.
“For me, it’s remembering that I have vacation time and I can go home after work, unwind and unplug, and step away from the work,” Callie Myers in Dallas, Texas explained. “But childhood hunger is something that these kids can’t step away from.”
As the Youth Ambassador Program enters into its 10th year, it has connected more than 300 students with opportunities to help serve in communities both big and small, urban and rural. This summer alone, we have close to 30 youth ambassadors helping to pack and distribute meals, connect families to resources like SNAP and P-EBT, and making a difference in children’s lives every day.
Follow our youth ambassadors’ lead and join us to end childhood hunger in your community today!
