The coronavirus pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on families throughout the country. In Arizona, school closures mean that the millions of kids who rely on school meals are at risk for going without the food they’ve depended on during the school year.
When their communities needed them more than ever, schools, food banks, pantries, and community organizations all across the state stepped up in incredible ways. Because of them, kids throughout Arizona have remained nourished during the crisis.
These frontline hunger heroes – school nutrition and transportation professionals, community leaders, administrators, teachers, and volunteers – have done everything they can to ensure that kids continue to have access to meals. They’ve worked tirelessly, often for longer shifts and without days off. They’ve also found creative ways to get meals to kids, distributing weekly bags of fresh produce, providing curb-side meal pick-up, and even hopping on school buses to deliver meals directly to kids’ homes. These hunger heroes have shown tremendous dedication over the past weeks, all while juggling mounting stress and uncertainty.
Given the extraordinary need that families are experiencing, we urge our legislators to prioritize food access for vulnerable families and their children. No Kid Hungry has developed a new resource – Supporting school, communities, and Nutrition Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommended State Policy Actions – that list options available to state policymakers to unlock the potential of federal and state food nutrition programs and ensure that families and children have the support they need.
Since the pandemic began, No Kid Hungry Arizona has provided $270,000 in emergency grants to support the work our hunger heroes are doing across the state. This month, we want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Here are just a few of many Arizona hunger heroes:
- St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix plans to expand its weekend backpack and mobile pantry programs to feed kids an estimated 27,500 meals day.
- St. Michael Indian School on the Navajo Nation is feeding children breakfast and lunch every weekday and backpacks of food supplies for the weekend.
- With the help of funding support, the Chandler CARE Center Children’s Medical and Dental Clinic is stocking its food pantry to meet the skyrocketing need in Chandler and serve an expected 12,000 meals a day.
- Phoenix Union High School District serves approximately 9,500 nutritious meals a day through seven grab-n-go sites, three existing delivery routes, and new bus routes to meet the growing need in their community
Throughout May, we’ll be celebrating and lifting up the amazing work that’s been happening across the state by:
- Sharing stories all month long on our social media
- Highlighting the work of partners, grantees, and folks on the ground on our blog – stay tuned for more stories here on our website!
JOIN US
We know you have hunger heroes in your community you want to thank too. You can:
- Celebrate your local hunger heroes on social media. To make posting as easy as possible, our team put together this toolkit. Be sure to include #ThankAHungerHero and tag us so we can lift up what you’re sharing!
- On Wednesday, May 27, No Kid Hungry, and our state campaigns are coming together for a moment of gratitude. We’ll be thanking hunger heroes all across the country. You can join in by engaging when we thank heroes from Arizona. We’ll be posting across No Kid Hungry’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook in the lead-up to the big day, so be sure to follow along.
We couldn’t be more grateful for each and every one of these individuals and organizations and for all of the hunger heroes on the front lines. Let’s come together to shower them with much-deserved gratitude and appreciation.