No Kid Hungry Announces $250,000 In Grants To 5 NY School Districts

No Kid Hungry New York today announced $250,000 in total grants to five school districts-community organization partnerships in every corner of the state to fight child hunger by increasing enrollment in food assistance programs like SNAP and WIC, boosting outreach efforts around food aid programs, and establishing new emergency food pantries in schools. The new funding boost comes as a recent No Kid Hungry poll found 73 percent of families in New York were finding it harder to afford groceries this year than last.

Food insecurity spikes every summer, as kids lose access to no-cost and low-cost meals at school. The No Kid Hungry Community Nutrition Grants are intended to combat that trend, as well as the rising cost of food families are facing year-round. No Kid Hungry will provide 5 grants totaling $250,000—$50,000 each—to Foodlink (Finger Lakes/Rochester), Syracuse City School District, The Campaign Against Hunger (NYC), United Way of the Dutchess & Orange Region and Island Harvest (Long Island). The grants will provide funding through March 2024.

“Each of the organizations we’re funding is a frontline provider that helps families put food on the table. Our Community Nutrition Grants will help them do more: more kids whose parents have grocery benefits, more kids screened for programs like the Child Tax Credit that put money back in families’ pockets, more families with a place to turn for food in an emergency. Together, with these school districts and community groups we can get thousands more kids the food they need to thrive in life,” said No Kid Hungry New York Director Rachel Sabella.

Grant funds are intended for each organization to overcome barriers that have kept families from getting help in the past. Through their funding, each organization will be enabled to serve more families through outreach and enrollment efforts.

Each grantee has developed plans to utilize the new funding:

• Foodlink will hire and train staff to increase school community access to nutritional support through SNAP outreach and enrollment and school pantry services and establish new emergency food pantries in five schools.
• Syracuse City School District will close the gap in district families who are eligible for SNAP benefits but do not participate in the SNAP program by raising awareness, expanding outreach and enrolling more families.
• The Campaign Against Hunger will develop new English and Spanish language advertising materials and program outreach to boost awareness and enrollment in SNAP.
• United Way of the Dutchess & Orange Region will hire and train a dedicated full time School Outreach Manager who will be responsible for promoting and supporting outreach and enrollment efforts related to SNAP in all thirty nearby school districts.
• Island Harvest will provide new screening and application assistance to remove common barriers of applying for and receiving SNAP benefits.

“Foodlink has strategically invested more time and resources into expanding our school pantry network in the greater Rochester area, providing greater access to emergency food assistance to local families,” said Julia Tedesco, President & CEO of Foodlink. “We know, however, that SNAP provides upwards of 10x the amount of support to our food-insecure neighbors than the emergency food system. We are extremely grateful that this grant opportunity allows us to increase access to healthy foods for Wayne County residents, and ease the burden on SNAP enrollment wait times.”

“One of the most important ways we can help our children succeed academically is by providing them with the nutrition necessary to grow healthy bodies and minds. Research shows good nutrition is strongly linked with student success in the classroom and beyond – and one of best ways to ensure good nutrition for kids is by putting grocery dollars in a family’s pocket. This new grant from No Kid Hungry will help Syracuse City School District close the gap between families who are eligible for SNAP benefits and those who receive them by raising awareness of the NY SNAP Program, assisting eligible SCSD families enroll in SNAP and working to remove any stigma that may be associated with participating in the program,” said Rachel Murphy, Director of Food and Nutrition Services, Syracuse City School District.

“The Campaign Against Hunger is pleased to partner with No Kid Hungry by Share Our Strength to expand access to SNAP for food-insecure and low-income families with children with significant barriers to accessing services. SNAP in Schools is an innovative way to conduct targeted outreach and address the challenges many children face in households struggling to put food on their tables consistently. We thank No Kid Hungry for its commitment and vision to end childhood hunger and applaud them on this great initiative to bring financial stability to low-income families,” said The Campaign Against Hunger CEO and Founder, Dr. Melony Samuels.

“We are thrilled to partner with No Kid Hungry around this critical initiative that connects low income families to SNAP benefits. This program will address rising food insecurity in our region and ensure greater access to SNAP benefits and wraparound services,” said Melissa Clark, Vice President of Community Impact, United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region.

“Childhood hunger and food insecurity are a national and local public health crisis, and Island Harvest Food Bank is happy to partner with No Kid Hungry on the SNAP in Schools initiative to provide additional resources to help families with children gain greater access to healthy food,” said Randi Shubin Dresner, President & CEO of Island Harvest Food Bank, a Long Island-based human services organization. “We are grateful to No Kid Hungry for this grant to help address a critical problem for families in Nassau and Suffolk counties who struggle daily to feed their children.”

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About No Kid Hungry

No child should go hungry in America. But millions of kids could face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty. Join us at NoKidHungry.org

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Contact: Hannah Gammond, 732-284-0734, hgammond@rubenstein.com