Children’s Hunger Alliance Helps Provide 10,000 More Summer Meals in Lucas and Wood Counties
Summer Meal Partners of Northwest Ohio will leverage a $6K grant funded by the Walmart Foundation to expand the number of healthy summer meals for food-insecure children
COLUMBUS, OH (May 24, 2017) – Children’s Hunger Alliance, a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in Ohio, today announced it has awarded $6,000 to Summer Meal Partners of Northwest Ohio to help expand access to summer meals to more than 8,000 children in Lucas and Wood counties. The funding, made possible from a $1.5 million Walmart Foundation grant to Children’s Hunger Alliance at the end of 2016, will allow Summer Meal Partners to provide approximately 10,000 more meals than the 301,000 provided in 2016.
“During the summer, the 575,000 food-insecure children in Ohio who rely on school breakfasts and lunches face the very real possibility of not knowing if there will be enough food to eat at home,” explained Judy Mobley, President and CEO at Children’s Hunger Alliance. “Our goal at Children’s Hunger Alliance is to partner with summer nutrition programs and expand access so more children can receive healthy meals.”
“We are thrilled to be able to serve even more meals to children in Lucas and Wood Counties this summer,” said Wendi Huntley, Spokesperson for Summer Meal Partners “We are grateful to Children’s Hunger Alliance and the Walmart Foundation for their work and investments toward ensuring that no child in Ohio goes hungry.”
Last year, Summer Meal Partners served more than 300,000 meals during the summer break at sites and at mobile shelters. Summer Meal Partners utilized school buses to travel to parks and create mobile shelters where children received a healthy meal. Starting June 5 through August 16, children in Lucas and Wood counties will again have access to free lunches.
Children’s Hunger Alliance is working with Summer Meal Partners to identify high-need areas where sites are most needed. The collaboration, which is made up of over 30 community stakeholders, will work with media outlets to promote summer meals. The $6,000 grant covers the cost of adding an additional day for the mobile feeding to be offered. Children’s Hunger Alliance also awarded a $6,250 grant in 2016 to Summer Meal Partners of Northwest Ohio to expand access to summer meals.
Throughout Ohio, more than 1 in 5 children are food insecure. Children need to eat healthy meals in order to grow and thrive; and missing meals increases the risk of a child experiencing health problems and learning difficulties. During the summer, low-income children are at risk of higher-than-average learning losses and increased weight gain, partially due to the loss of access to nutritionally balanced school meals. Summer nutrition programs help attract children to participate in enrichment programming that helps keep them active and reduces learning loss.
About Children’s Hunger Alliance
Founded in 1970 in Columbus, Children’s Hunger Alliance is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in Ohio. The organization’s mission is to ensure children without access receive healthy food, nutrition education and physical activity. In 2016 the organization worked with partners including childcare providers and afterschool programs to help provide nearly five million nutritious meals and snacks to hungry children throughout Ohio. Learn more at childrenshungeralliance.org.