Each year on October 16, the global community celebrates World Food Day to commemorate the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Today, the entire month of October is widely recognized as World Food Month to raise awareness about the issues of hunger, poverty and sustainable food systems.
Hunger and poverty affect some of the wealthiest countries in the world including the United States. Nearly 48 million, or 12.9% of all Americans live in poverty. And according to the most recent "Supplemental Poverty Measure" data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 10 million of those are children.
How No Kid Hungry Is Ending Hunger in America
Today, 1 in 5 kids in America faces hunger. That's 14 million children, and that number is growing — every day, in every community. Research continues to show that kids who experience hunger are less likely to thrive and reach their full potential, which is why No Kid Hungry is helping schools and communities across the U.S. fight childhood hunger.
Grantmaking through No Kid Hungry alongside our community of champions — teachers, school nutrition staff, food banks, social workers, pediatricians, bipartisan lawmakers, corporate leaders, culinary professionals, and more — is helping schools and community organizations feed kids today, tomorrow and for generations to come. Far more children today have access to healthy meals programs in their schools and their neighborhoods, thanks in part to our work.
Fighting Hunger Through Policy and Systems Change
No Kid Hungry works to fix the systems that are supposed to feed kids, so families can provide for themselves and build brighter futures. That means working at the policy level to strengthen and protect programs designed to keep millions of children fed every single day and making programs work better for families. This includes school meals, summer meals, and grocery benefits like Summer EBT and SNAP. It also means helping families build financial stability so that one hard month doesn't mean kids go hungry.
School and Summer Meals
School and summer meals are at the heart of No Kid Hungry's work to end childhood hunger. For example, we provide flexible grants to school districts to help them pay for resources they need to launch or expand "breakfast after the bell" programs, a proven way to ensure more kids get a healthy breakfast every school day, so they're ready to learn.
And when school is out for the summer, we ensure that kids stay healthy and strong by helping communities at the national, state and local levels launch and expand the summer meals program. This includes providing grants for essential equipment, training and resources to connect more families to Summer EBT grocery benefits, as well as SUN Meals To-Go, which enables families living on low incomes in rural communities to grab summer meals on the go or have them delivered wherever they live.
"We all know [the] students who are hungry. It absolutely impedes learning...The more we can do to put nutritious food in front of our kids, whether it's breakfast, whether it's universal lunch, [the better]."
— Derek Simmons, Superintendent at Federalsburg Elementary, Maryland
"When everybody has the same opportunities available to them, especially in regards to something as simple and basic and necessary as food, I think they all get started on the right step so that they can succeed in life."
— Kelli Snyder, parent, Texas
Grocery Benefits for Families
In some families, parents face impossible choices between paying for the basics, like groceries, gas or rent. In others, a working mom skips meals so her kids can eat. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — the largest and most effective federal nutrition program with the power to help kids grow up smarter, stronger and healthier — helps alleviate those hardships.
"At the end of the day, you got all these bills, and you got all these unfortunate events... And being out of work and stuff. Money was a big problem. And you never realize until it hits home, and then you're like, I wish I had something to fall back on, like a safety net or something. And that's what SNAP is."
— Nathan Lawson, parent, Nebraska
Increasing Financial Security of Single Moms
We go beyond connecting kids to meals. We invest in economic solutions that help families build lasting stability. These are solutions that boost income, reduce cost burdens and expand opportunity for families. To create the biggest impact, our family economic mobility work focuses on families headed by single mothers.
"You support us, we support them. It's like a chain reaction." — Tatiana Bolton, a single mom in Illinois
Ways You Can Help
- Childhood hunger is a crisis we can solve – but only if we act together. Every $1 can help provide 10 meals* for kids in your community and across the country. Will you help feed kids today with a donation to support our work?
You can also help strengthen the federal nutrition programs that millions of kids rely on like SNAP. Make sure elected officials are protecting those programs by advocating for kids.
*Your donations help support programs that feed kids; No Kid Hungry does not provide individual meals. Meal equivalencies vary. Learn more at NoKidHungry.org/OneDollar.
