Building Bridges Across Communities
Posted by Chuck Scofield on Wednesday, June 30, 2010
This summer, Share Our Strength is honoring innovative organizations that connect hungry kids with food through its No Kid Hungry Innovation Awards. A winner in each of three categories will receive $25,000. Voting is underway in the final category, Nourishing Communities: More Meals for More Kids. Read on to learn about some of the innovative organizations nominated for building coalitions that help feed hungry kids.
Children’s Hunger Alliance (Columbus, Ohio): is a statewide nonprofit committed to breaking the cycle of hunger in Ohio. The Alliance would use the award to support its “Feeding Hungry Minds and Bodies” initiative, an effort to increase the number of sites offering afterschool meals, snacks and enrichment programs for low income children in Dayton, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, which are all underserved areas in the state. The organization will connect with community-based afterschool sites in these locales through intensive outreach efforts conducted by staff members who live in the communities and are familiar with the needs of local afterschool organizations.
Just Harvest (Pittsburgh, PA): is a membership organization that promotes economic justice, influences public policy, and helps low-income clients apply for benefits such as food stamps, free and reduced-price school lunch, and more. The organization would use the award to support a new project aimed at increasing the participation of low-income children in the Summer Food Program in Alleghany County, Pa. Just Harvest plans to link existing food providers to the summer food program to increase the number and accessibility of sites, expand opportunities for cooperation among local Summer Food sponsors, and streamline local government administration of the program.
Family League of Baltimore (Baltimore, MD): has been fighting hunger in Maryland since 1991, and its overarching goal is to end childhood hunger in Maryland by 2015. The League would use the award to support its B’More Healthy; Be Less Hungry campaign and create a website with a real-time mapping program that will help families find meals programs; track the number of youth served citywide; and identify areas of greatest need for future programs. The League also plans to help expand meals programs in 2010 for Baltimore’s poorest children by tripling the number who receive free afterschool meals to reach 10,000 kids.
Today is the last day of voting. So cast your vote today and help a community leader win a $25,000 No Kid Hungry Innovation award.
June 30, 2010 | 0 comment(s) | Tags: afterschool programs, Innovation Awards, No Kid Hungry, poverty
Post a comment
All fields are required (your e-mail address will not be displayed)