January 10, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Johanna Elsemore at jelsemore@strength.org
No Kid Hungry California Responds to Governor Gavin Newsom’s State Budget Proposal
Pasadena, Calif. – Governor Gavin Newsom’s annual spending plan, released today, includes $650 million in state meals reimbursements through ongoing Proposition 98 funding beginning in the 2022-2023 school year to cover the costs of offering breakfast and lunch for all students, alongside $450 million to upgrade school kitchen infrastructure and equipment. The following is a statement from No Kid Hungry California Director Kathy Saile:
“School meals play an integral role in supporting student success. They have been a critical lifeline to students and their families throughout the pandemic, and will be paramount to ensuring an equitable recovery. We applaud Governor Newsom for providing robust state funding to support universal meal programs and school kitchens, positioning California as a national leader in ensuring that every student has access to the meals they need to learn and thrive. We look forward to working with the Administration, the Legislature, coalition partners and local school districts to ensure a successful rollout of universal school meals this fall.”
More than 13 million kids could face hunger this year due to the pandemic, including nearly 1.5 million kids in California. In July, California became one of the first states in the nation to launch a statewide universal school meals program. To support the schools and nonprofits that are distributing meals, No Kid Hungry California has provided more than $13 million in grants since the beginning of the pandemic to help ensure all children in California can continue to get the food they need.
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About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But millions don’t know where their next meal is coming from. No Kid Hungry is ending 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 by Share Our Strength, an organization working to end hunger and poverty.