FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | October 30, 2020
Contact: Jessica Ng | jng@mercuryllc.com | 510-508-2836
Amid Stark Increase in Food Insecurity, No Kid Hungry Announces an Additional $1.2 Million in Grants to 19 California Nonprofits, Schools Serving Free Meals
Pasadena, Calif. – As part of No Kid Hungry’s continuing effort to ensure all children in California remain nourished and healthy, the campaign today announced an additional $1.2 million in grants to 19 more nonprofit organizations and schools across California that are feeding students who rely on school meals and families who are recovering from recent wildfires.
“With food insecurity and poverty skyrocketing to unprecedented levels amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires and other challenges, it’s more important than ever to support the hard-working staff and volunteers who are continually finding innovative ways to make meals available to students and families in communities across the state,” said No Kid Hungry California Director Kathy Saile. “Especially amid this crisis, school meals are a critical source of nutrition and comfort for students. We’re proud these grants will not only help provide food for families in need – but they will also help ensure families know about the free food resources that are available to them.”
So far this school year, No Kid Hungry has provided more than $2.25 million in back-to-school and wildfire grants to 35 organizations across California. Today’s announcement comprises 19 grants totaling $1,192,880 to nonprofits and schools that are working to ensure children across the state get nutritious meals amid the pandemic and wildfires:
- San Bernardino City Unified School District
- Nyeland Promise (Oxnard)
- Help Me Help You (Long Beach)
- Santa Ana Unified School District
- Catholic Charities San Bernardino & Riverside Counties
- Capistrano Unified School District
- Fullerton School District
- Stockton Unified School District
- Anaheim Union High School District
- Tustin Unified School District
- Vineland School District
- Los Banos Unified School District
- LA Promise Fund
- San Francisco Unified School District
- El Monte Union High School District
- Napa Valley Unified School District
- Mountain View Elementary School District
- Fullerton Joint Union High School District
- Igo, Ono, Platina Union Elementary School District
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse Survey, nearly 12 million parents and caregivers across our nation said that their children didn’t have enough to eat because their families couldn’t afford it. Nearly 1.8 million of those are right here in California.
Despite this extraordinary need, many children are missing out on school meals; some districts report that enrollment in school meal programs has fallen to 25 percent of pre-pandemic levels. In addition to the grants provided, No Kid Hungry has also created a School Meals Marketing Toolkit, available in English and Spanish, designed to help school districts get the word out to families about meals available for kids.