All across Florida, No Kid Hungry is working alongside amazing school nutrition staff to make sure kids are able to get the food they need every day. As we step into 2023, it is the perfect opportunity to look back at what we’ve accomplished together this past year to help end hunger. Running successful meal programs requires much more than food – it requires a lot of equipment and talented, caring teams on the ground. In 2022, No Kid Hungry Florida provided nearly 3 million dollars to community organizations and school districts across the state, helping them serve more than 100 millions meals.
The grantees not only help provide food to children in Florida but also bring hope to our mission to end child hunger. In Naples, the amazing solar powered food truck, Miss Blueberry, is delivering free meals to families. This innovative program is part of the Crohn’s Charity Service Foundation (CCSF), to whom No Kid Hungry Florida has granted over $100,000 to help support and expand their meal programs. As the largest hunger relief organization in Sarasota and DeSoto counties, All Faiths Food Bank is using No Kid Hungry funding to address immediate hunger in communities and helping families attain long-term food security. Throughout 2022, No Kid Hungry Florida provided support to many other community organizations and school districts who share our goal of making no kid hungry a reality:
Pinellas County Health Department
Hernando County School District
Martin County School District
Our Village Okeechobee Inc.
Santa Rosa County School District
United Way Emerald Coast, Inc.
Esperanza Community Center, Inc.
Hispanic Services Council, Inc.
Hispanic Unity of Florida, Inc.
South Florida Hunger Coalition
Feeding Tampa Bay
Florida Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs
Hardee County Ministerial Association
Innovative Charities of Northwest Florida, Inc
Pasco County Schools
Public Education Partnership of Winter Haven
The Mobile School Pantry, Inc South Florida
Orange County Public Schools
Alpha and Omega Freedom Ministries
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast
Glades County School District
One Community Now
One Heart for Women and Children, Inc.
Putnam School District
St. Petersburg Free Clinic
Blessings in a Backpack Southwest Florida
Nourishing Lives, Inc
Second Harvest of the Big Bend, Inc.
St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Orlando
Anointed Victorious Outreach Services
Crohn’s Charity Service Foundation
Early Learning Coalition of Pasco and Hernando Counties, Inc.
Feed the Need of Putnam County
Hamilton County School District
Harvest Drive Inc.
Midwest Food Bank – Florida Division
Palm Beach County Food Bank, Inc.
School District of Hillsborough County
The Neighborhood Center of West Volusia
United Methodist Church of Sun City Center
Restore Hope Initiative of Tampa
Many Floridians may be surprised by the extent of the childhood hunger crisis. Here in Florida, 1 in 6 children face hunger. Part of our work is raising awareness on how prevalent childhood hunger is and what resources are available to ensure kids have access to the food they need to grow and succeed . We are also advocates for children – working with elected officials and governments agencies at the federal and state level to strengthen and improve access to nutrition programs. In 2022, No Kid Hungry successfully advocated for the passage of the bipartisan Keep Kids Fed Act, that extends certain nationwide meal programs that were successfully developed during the pandemic.
There is still a lot to be done. Many of the improvements that helped feed children and lift families out of poverty during the pandemic have been discontinued. Inflation and supply chain issues are other important concerns that have led food insecurity to rise – but at No Kid Hungry we know that childhood hunger is a problem we can solve together- join us and help us make sure that every kid gets the healthy food they need to learn, grow and thrive!