No Child in Illinois Should Go Hungry

At No Kid Hungry, we are committed to ensuring that every kid has 3 healthy meals a day, 365 days a year.  

The Problem

We know hunger is a solvable problem, but every day it impacts children’s ability to learn and grow. In Illinois, 11% of children live in food insecure homes. That phrase may sound mild, but it means that those households don’t have enough food for every family member to lead a healthy life. 

We have plenty of food in the United States and federal nutrition programs that work together to provide access to meals and groceries for those facing economic hardship; the problem is that not enough kids and families are able to access them. There are large gaps in the number of kids and families that qualify for benefits and those that are receiving them. 

How We Can Help

In collaboration with our partners[link to partners page], No Kid Hungry works to ensure all children have access to the federal nutrition programs in their communities .

• Supporting Schools: We work with school districts, providing training, toolkits, and strategic grant funding to launch or enhance existing school meal programs – breakfast, lunch, afterschool, and summer meals.
• Building Community Partnerships: We collaborate with community based organizations and support innovative strategies to support afterschool and summer meal programs and connect families to other critical federal nutrition programs like SNAP and WIC.
• Advocating for Kids: We engage with elected and government officials to make sure that ending child hunger is prioritized by decision makers at all levels of government. 
• Advancing Equity: Childhood hunger is the product of longtime systemic inequities. We prioritize support to marginalized communities, seek out and share successful community based solutions, and work to address the root causes of hunger. 

Our Impact So Far

In 2012, Share Our Strength and the Greater Chicago Food Depository launched No Kid Hungry Illinois. The initial goals of this campaign started to expand school breakfast and summer meal participation. Since then, we’ve expanded our work to include broader federal nutrition programs, including: afterschool meals, summer meals, school lunch to be a lead in supporting Illinois children, school districts, and community organizations. 

To date, No Kid Hungry Illinois has supported more than 300 school districts and community organizations across the state, and counting. Schools and community-based organizations have used funding to purchase new equipment, technology, supplies, or craft promotional materials to elevate their nutrition program and increase access to the federal child nutrition programs. 

About Share Our Strength

No Kid Hungry is a national campaign run by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit working to solve problems of hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world. After 25 years of successfully investing in local nonprofits and helping find the best approaches to eradicating poverty and hunger, Share Our Strength launched No Kid Hungry in 2010.

As a child hunger organization, ending childhood hunger is our primary focus, though Share Our Strength continues to invest in and develop other campaigns.

Learn more about Share Our Strength and our other work at ShareOurStrength.org.