The meal comes from Akshaya Patra, a nonprofit foundation that provides hot, nutritious and tasty lunches in schools across India. Today, Akshaya Patra feeds two million children every day at over 23,000 schools, making them one of the largest providers of school meals in the world.

But that incredible figure is overshadowed by the sheer number of children in India who are at risk of not getting enough to eat; Akshaya Patra is reaching only a fraction of the kids who need them.

That’s why Share Our Strength chose Akshaya Patra as our first major partner outside the United States. We’ve pledged to help them feed one million more children across India over the next five years.

To do that, we’ve helped them adapt some of our successful models for raising money and engaging the local community, co-hosting a large tasting event in Nagpur that featured some of the city’s top restaurants, chefs and mixologists, as well as attracting corporate sponsorship. The event was such a success that Akshaya Patra was able to fund a new kitchen that will prepare meals for schools across central India.

And, as we know from our No Kid Hungry campaign here in the United States, events like this do more than raise funds. They galvanize the public, as well as business leaders, elected officials and the culinary community. “Everyone wants to contribute, but they don’t know if the opportunity is there,” said Sanjeev Kapoor, one of India’s most influential chefs and a partner in our work. “The will is there among chefs to help, we just need the opportunities.”

By helping local partners like Akshaya Patra create those opportunities, we’re sharing our strengths – like innovative fundraising strategies, brand-building and cultivating relationships with donors – but also respecting theirs as leaders and experts who understand their own community’s strengths and needs.

The post A New Kitchen for Children in India appeared first on Share Our Strength.

Today, Ashleigh is a mom of six, a certified lactation counselor, childbirth educator, doula, and parent advocate for No Kid Hungry. She shared her story at the inaugural Medicaid Food Security Network (MFSN) Summit. Her journey shows how Medicaid, SNAP, and WIC can help families regain stability when life takes unexpected turns. Her story also shows the pivotal role of the healthcare sector- including Medicaid, doctors and nurses- in connecting children and families to Food is Medicine services. 

When she enrolled in WIC, these programs became a lifeline. “WIC was there to provide resources for accessing food, breastfeeding and lactation classes,” Ashleigh explained. She felt that flexibilities in the WIC program that began during the COVID-19 pandemic helped reduce the challenges she and many other families face in accessing the program. For example, WIC phone appointments reduced the stress of planning how to bring her children to in-person visits. The 2021 expansion of the WIC Cash Value Benefit for fruits and vegetables from $9 to $35 per month enabled her to provide tailored nutritious foods for her children with severe food allergies. 

When Ashleigh delivered her premature twins, she spent a month in the neonatal intensive care unit. There, the nurses and lactation consultants reinforced how WIC could continue to support her family once she got home. Later, during a visit with a lactation consultant at the WIC clinic, she learned about the Nurse-Family Partnership, a home nurse visitation program for children with special needs. Since her children were premature, she automatically qualified. 

The home nurse supported her family with compassion, trust and care, which set the stage for her to connect Ashleigh to SNAP.

Accessing SNAP not only helped Ashleigh’s family eat better, but also opened the door for Ashleigh to work towards economic empowerment. Ashleigh opted into the SNAP Employment and Training program, which assists SNAP participants to access college and employment readiness opportunities . She went back to school when her twins were less than two years old and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s in Marketing and Entrepreneurship! 

“My healthcare team actually saw me,” Ashleigh recalled. “I wasn’t a patient – I was a whole person. I wasn’t just a mom – I was Ashleigh.” Her healthcare team helped her navigate the maze of accessing public benefits tailored to her eligibility and needs. 

Having newborn children is already overwhelming and exhausting. During such a vulnerable time, it’s critical to follow up with and support individuals faced with complex application processes for programs and the fear of being judged at grocery stores or county offices. Often, people already know about programs like SNAP and WIC, and the role of healthcare is to work with patients to identify and reduce barriers to accessing them. 

Ashleigh said, “These programs filled the gaps when I couldn’t. They supported me when I needed it most. Without access I was going to be forced to make important choices between food and health and would not have the opportunities I had. Food assistance programs aren’t handouts; they are hand-ups by meeting families where they need to be met.” 

Ashleigh’s story shows how healthcare navigation assistance to SNAP and WIC are a key component of Food is Medicine. At MFSN, we are working to make more positive experiences like Ashleigh’s the standard by making policies that connect Medicaid enrollees to SNAP, WIC, and other Food is Medicine programs with dignity and streamlined access. 

For millions of Americans, Medicaid, SNAP and WIC offer vital support for health, nutrition, and well-being. As Ashleigh’s story shows, these 3 public benefits also cultivate referrals and connections to many more vital supports like her home nurse visit program. 

Medicaid covers 1 in 5 Americans, with nearly half of its 72 million enrollees being children. However, SNAP and WIC still have major participation gaps owing to lack of awareness, complicated application processes and technology, mandated in-person enrollment visits, and transportation barriers. The workforce and infrastructure within Medicaid, including health insurance company staff and doctors and nurses, make it an indispensable resource in addressing the needs of low-income families. Therefore, Medicaid policy and administrative changes can reach millions of people at scale. 

Dr. Julian Xie, No Kid Hungry director of Medicaid and benefits integration reflected on the Summit and Ashleigh’s story, “Half of the people eligible for WIC aren’t enrolled even though it’s a major Food is Medicine program, so it’s got to be all hands on deck to get families connected to both SNAP and WIC. Medicaid managed care and healthcare providers are major partners to build trust and meet people where they’re at, not just once but multiple times.” 

The MFSN Summit brought together food security advocates, healthcare representatives, state government staff, and allies to make connections and learn about pursuing Medicaid policy change to improve food and nutrition security for children and families. There is significant interest around the country among food security advocates for engaging, influencing, and partnering with Medicaid. 

Get Involved

The summit generated momentum by creating space for food security champions to connect, learn from each other, and plan to take action. But to drive real change, it is vital to center the families and communities directly impacted by these programs. We’ll be releasing a longer MFSN Summit summary report. To be the first to receive it, subscribe to our MFSN digest.

Take action to protect WIC from cuts and support women and kid’s access to nutritious food. Learn more from the National WIC Association about proposed cuts and how to contact Congress.

The post How Medicaid Can End Childhood Hunger: Ashleigh’s Story appeared first on Share Our Strength.

Take the story of Lillian Singh. She was raised in Los Angeles by a single mom who worked two and a half jobs to raise her. Food assistance programs helped her mom ensure they didn’t experience hunger, but the real break came when her mom entered a workforce development program.

With this training she was able to more than double her income and have some financial stability for her family. 

“I don’t think that if my mother’s financial condition wasn’t improved, that I would actually have the life outcome that I have today,” shared Singh. “My life shouldn’t be an exception.”

Share Our Strength, the organization behind the No Kid Hungry campaign is proud to announce a groundbreaking initiative aimed at addressing the root causes of childhood hunger in the United States. Recognizing that it takes more than food to end hunger, we’re investing $6.7 million across 28 organizations in 12 states to help families – particularly single moms with lower incomes – and children achieve financial security. 

“Strong, stable, and secure mothers help raise strong, stable, and secure kids,” said Singh, who now leads this work as senior vice president of family economic mobility at No Kid Hungry. “By supporting single mothers, we aim to break the cycle of poverty and hunger that affects too many families across the country. We’re eager to fuel the incredible work of our community partners, and stand ready to convene a national conversation to champion a better future for single mothers raising children.”

One of the local organizations we are funding is the Jeremiah Program, a national organization focused on economic mobility of single moms and their kids. All moms who enter the program decide within six months that they are ready to enroll in either a bachelor’s or an associate’s degree. 

It’s not easy for single moms. Despite being consistently employed, they and their children face extraordinary levels of food and financial insecurity due to barriers and limited access to employment, high cost of basic needs and social stigmatization against single moms. Moms are able to overcome incredible obstacles just to make it. 

Shameeka, Mary Claire, Erika, Rodnique and Portia are women from all around the country who are either currently enrolled or are alumni of the Jeremiah Program. They exude confidence and pride for their achievements (college degrees, home ownership, supporting others in the community), but more than anything they exude love for everything that this will mean for their kids. 

Rodnique recalls crying a lot as she went through school while raising her two girls. Mary Claire shared she felt that her kids were also going to school with her feeling all the stress of the classwork and their financial situation. Shameeka had to live in a shelter for some time while raising the kids. And Erika talked about feeling overwhelmed with work and being unable to console her kid who suffered a skin condition. 

Like many single moms, they faced moments where they thought they could not make it. Jeremiah Program offered them a community and coaching that helped them through these challenges.

“I feel very proud of myself, although sometimes I don’t believe it,” shared Erika. “Looking at everything I’ve done with my life and everything I’ve done for my children… I’ve come from a very dark place. I see myself transformed in a positive way because I am not only a mother and a woman but also a leader in my community.”

With your support, No Kid Hungry’s work with the Jeremiah Program and other organizations as part of this initiative focuses on three high-impact areas: removing barriers to increased incomes and wages for single mothers, reducing the cost burden of food, and shifting the narrative around single mothers experiencing poverty.

Mom’s Conference

In early March, 300 moms got together for the Jeremiah Program conference. The event was a representation of everything that the Jeremiah Program does in communities across the nation. There were workshops about navigating bureaucratic assistance programs, child care for moms with small babies, coaching opportunities for moms pitching business ideas and most importantly, moms were on the table making decisions about their future.

“Single moms are probably one of the most untapped resources that we have,” said Danielle Staton, executive director of Jeremiah Program Baltimore. “A single mom is a master multitasker, a single mom is someone who’s going to get things done… single moms really are like an untapped treasure.”

Of the almost 8.5 million households with single moms in the US, 61% are considered low income and 33% experienced hunger. That’s millions of kids whose moms just need some support, a community and somebody to believe in them in order to thrive. 

“When you change a woman’s life, you change her kid’s life… You change every generation to come,” explained Rodnique. 

By 2030, our goal is to impact 3 million moms. You can be part of this groundbreaking initiative and end hunger not only for this generation of kids but for all the generations to come after them. 

The post Helping Kids by Helping Single Moms appeared first on Share Our Strength.

The bulk of our work has been in the United States, but over the years we have learned important lessons that we want to share with partners across the globe, so together we can end childhood hunger, not only in the US, but everywhere in the world. Our recent international work has focused on India.

How Share Our Strength Works Internationally

Share Our Strength is a diverse community of inspired people, sharing our strengths, so all children and families live without hunger or poverty. Even with the majority of our work focused in the US, we’ve always had a commitment to supporting global hunger and poverty through grants to organizations fighting hunger globally. 

In addition to providing grants to our global partners, we are now sharing our best practices around fundraising, brand building, advocacy and grassroots organizing. The goal is to help our partners build a sustainable source of revenue so that they can scale their work, ultimately reaching more kids with the food they need to grow and thrive.

Our international work is connected to the origins of the organization; Share Our Strength was founded in 1984 by siblings Billy and Debbie Shore in response to the Ethiopian famine. 

Our Current Priorities

Over the past years, we have focused on building partnerships in India to expand access to meals to kids. Some of our partners there include the Akshaya Patra Foundation, Annapoorna, The Breakfast Revolution and others. Akshaya Patra is the largest school meals NGO in the world, serving a hot midday meal to more than 2 million children every day, but it’s only a small fraction of the need.

Together, we have set the goal of adding an additional 1 million children to receive this meal over the next 5 years.

To achieve this, we will continue collaborating with our partners to identify gaps in the delivery of meals, engage additional organizations that can support us to reach this goal, and we will continue working with Akshaya Patra to identify and improve kitchens operating at less than full capacity as well as building a new kitchen in the city of Nagpur.

While prioritizing India, we will continue to explore ways in which we can add value to other countries committed to reaching more children through school meals.

2023 Successes

• In February of 2023, we organized our first Feed the Future Now event in Nagpur, India (inspired by our Taste of a Nation events in the US), energizing the local community and philanthropic leaders raising funds to build a new Akshaya Patra Kitchen in Nagpur that will serve an additional 15,000 meals daily.
• We broke ground with the kitchen in Nagpur.The first meal from this kitchen is expected to be served in early 2024.
• We have continued building a coalition of business leaders, celebrity chefs and government officials that have aligned with our goal of feeding 1 million more kids in the next few years. 

As the work in India continues to grow, we are excited about the opportunities to continue making a difference for kids across the world. 

Referencing her last trip to India, Debbie Shore said “The experience here reinforced to me that the desire to be a part of something larger than ourselves, sharing our strengths and talents and setting our children up to reach their full potential is universal and alive and well in India. Convening people from across industries, giving them a platform to do something meaningful, introducing a brand new idea and having fun all at the same time plays squarely into our core values”.

How You Can Help

Donate: India struggles with some of the world’s highest rates of childhood hunger, but also boasts the world’s largest and most impressive school meal program. India’s mid-day meal is served to millions of children every day, but reaches only a fraction of children in need. Share Our Strength, in close partnership with partners in India, is launching an effort to reach millions more children over the next three years. With your help we can reach millions of kids in India. 

The post A Year of Success: Share Our Strength’s Work in India appeared first on Share Our Strength.

As lawmakers return to Washington from their recess, Congress will begin making critical decisions about SNAP, a program that helps feed 14 million children nationwide. SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is one of our nation’s most powerful tools to fight hunger and Congress has until September 30 to protect and strengthen SNAP in this year’s Farm Bill, a piece of legislation that determines how SNAP is operated.

Right now, we’re urging Congress to: 

• Protect the value of SNAP benefits. SNAP benefits increased to an average of $6 a day per person in 2021. This was the first increase in nearly 50 years. But these benefits are still pretty low. It’s critical Congress protects this increase and doesn’t cut the value of SNAP benefits. 
• Increase access to SNAP. Under the current program, there are eligibility limitations, administrative burdens and outdated technology that prevent SNAP from reaching every community that needs it. Families need support, not more red tape from Washington. Congress can improve SNAP by cutting that red tape and improving the program’s technology so more people who need SNAP can access it. 
• Defend access to SNAP-Ed. SNAP-Ed is the nutrition education component of SNAP, delivering free courses that help individuals stretch their SNAP dollars to shop for and cook healthy meals on a budget. It’s a critical piece of the SNAP program and Congress should continue to prioritize is by funding SNAP-Ed programs at their current level.

It’s important that Congress hears from you as it decides what SNAP policies make it into this year’s Farm Bill. Here are three things you can do on Tuesday, September 12:

1. Learn: Now that you’re up-to-speed on the importance of SNAP in this year’s Farm Bill, share this blog post with your friends and family to encourage them to take action.
2. Send: Reach out directly to your Members of Congress and urge them to protect and strengthen SNAP in this year’s Farm Bill. Click here to easily find and email your lawmakers.
3. Share: Spread the word on social media and encourage your networks to contact Congress too! Click here to send a tweet to your Members of Congress.

The post Take Action: Tell Congress to Protect and Strengthen SNAP appeared first on Share Our Strength.

Soon millions of kids will be returning to school. And like all of us did at some point, they will also be getting ready to dream and learn. But as 1 in 8 kids in America continues to face hunger, we are working hard to ensure kids have their most important school supply: the food they need to thrive.

Below you can read the stories of how, with your support and donations and the hard work of school heroes, we are making No Kid Hungry a reality.

Superheroes for Kids

He might be dressed as Spider-Man or as a watermelon. After all, Chef Reggie, district chef at Fulton County in Georgia will do anything for the kids. He sees himself in them because he was a product of the district. Today he works to ensure kids in the community have the meals they need to thrive every day. But he knows it is so much more than a meal. It’s showing that he cares and that they are loved.

“Join me for lunch. Please, join me…you will see how much the kids love it,” said Chef Reggie, inviting people to support the fight against childhood hunger. “It’s just bigger than school lunch and breakfast. It’s the tools that the kids and the people gain from what we receive. And I think that’s a beautiful thing. And, hey, nobody wants to see a kid go hungry.”

Learning While Eating

Afterschool meals are essential for kids living with hunger. Not only do they offer a lifeline of support to families, they also are a great opportunity for kids to participate in enrichment activities and continue learning. In Smithville, Texas, kids put on the chef’s hat and learned how to prepare spaghetti squash.

Candy Beihle, the child nutrition director at Smithville ISD shared, “It is about giving students a new experience with things they may have never tried… These are kids who don’t normally get the opportunity to try and experience some of the foods they did today.” 

Helping Families Make It

In West Palm Beach, Florida, Jose Carranza, an immigrant and father of two, must work two jobs to make ends meet. He is busy all the time and often misses important moments with his daughter Sophia and his baby, David. Even with the sacrifices he makes, the increase of food prices has made the situation very challenging. School meals are essential for his family to make it and for Sophia to continue succeeding in school.

“It’s a blessing to have support from the school district and from organizations like No Kid Hungry,” shared Carranza. “The fact that my kids are fed is a huge help for them. Not only for their learning, but so they become good people.”

Starting the Day Strong

Every day she and her team members drive over 50 miles early in the morning to ensure kids get the most important meal of the day. Frances Montoya-Gatewood, food service director at Vaughn Learning Center in California, is proud of her hardworking community. She experienced hunger when she was growing up and knows how crucial these meals are for her students.

“Breakfast is important for kids; feeding the brain helps them concentrate. You know, belly’s full, they’re comfortable, they’re in a good mood,” she said.

At No Kid Hungry, we believe food is the most important school supply. Everybody has a strength to share, and together, we can ensure every kid is equipped to succeed and thrive in the new school year.

Ways You Can Help:

Donate: 1 dollar can help provide 10 meals for kids in need. Your support will help us fund school meal programs all over the country and help us advocate for policies that will help kids get the meals they need.

Speak up for kids: 1 in 8 kids in the United States is affected by hunger. Tell your lawmaker to protect SNAP and other federal nutrition programs that feed kids.
 

The post Food: The Most Important School Supply appeared first on Share Our Strength.