11 million children in the US live in food insecure homes, so this new partnership is helping bring meals to schools

Sandra Rose Salathe
Wed, 18 Dec 2019 19:36:00 +0000
Hunger, School meals, Food insecurity

Imagine trying to focus while hungry. It's challenging, right? Your stomach continuously rumbles, resembling a thunderous freight train, therefore causing a physical discomfort you wish would cease. You probably rummage through your fridge for a solution, settling on leftover Chinese from the night before or ordering delivery from your favorite spot.

An easy fix for a simple problem.

Now imagine you're a kindergartner, trying to focus on your schoolwork while hungry. Only, instead of having the option to grab a quick snack from your lunchbox, you're forced to endure the hunger because your family can't afford something to eat. Unfortunately, due to growing poverty and hunger rates within the U.S., that is the reality one in seven children in the U.S. face.

No Kid Hungry

More than 11 million children in the United States live in "food insecure" homes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This means those households don't have enough food for every family member to lead a healthy life.

That's why No Kid Hungry and Grubhub are teaming up to ensure every kid in America gets three healthy meals a day.

Through Grubhub's Donate the Change program, you can opt to round up your change to the nearest dollar and donate it to No Kid Hungry. Grubhub's generous community has already donated enough to provide nearly 90 million meals to kids in need.

"I think a lot of people don't realize how pervasive childhood hunger is in America. There are a lot of students in the United States who are hungry, and I know what it's like to be hungry," said Julie Pittman, Western North Carolina Teacher of the Year.

Pittman's school is among the many that partner with No Kid Hungry, which helps connect all kids to effective food programs like school breakfast. Pittman notes that kids who eat school breakfast on a regular basis increase their math test scores by up to 17.5%.

No Kid Hungry

"When we started serving all students after the bell all meals, especially breakfast, I noticed that kids were more on task, they were ready to learn, they weren't distracting their peers because they were able to focus on what they were there to do and that's to be a student in the classroom: learning and growing. Food helps all kids reach their fullest potential," said Pittman.

No child should have to go to school hungry. That's why No Kid Hungry is working with schools to ensure all kids have the food they need to succeed. Learn more about Donate the Change and opt in to help those one in seven kids in need today.