Happy new year from No Kid Hungry New York!
As excited as we are for 2024, we are also taking time to reflect on the highlights and changes from the past twelve months. Across New York, our partners and supporters have worked tirelessly to make sure that New York kids have the nutrition they need to grow and thrive, 365 days a year. Join us in celebrating our shared wins and looking ahead to how we will continue our fight to ensure no kid in New York goes hungry.
Reflecting on 2023
- In summer 2023, New York was able to implement summer rural non-congregate meals. While many students look forward to the summer months, losing access to school meals can also mean losing a key source of nutrition. Establishing the ability to provide to-go meals greatly increases access to summer meals, making sure that New York kids are able to access healthy meals all year. Our team had an opportunity to see each program in action visiting partners across the state and joining in on a summer meals kick-off (Jamestown YMCA), direct home delivery (Clyde-Savannah Central School District), and grab-and-go meals (Salmon River Central School District and Pine Bush Central School District).
- Poll: No Kid Hungry New York released findings from our second annual Hunger Survey, in partnership with Change Research. The findings were troubling – 73% of New Yorkers say paying for groceries is harder than one year ago, and 59% said they had felt stressed, anxious or depressed by the challenge of buying food. Two-thirds (67%) say they would be somewhat or very worried about their ability to buy groceries or pay bills if faced with the unexpected loss of two weeks’ income. More information can be found on our blog and you can take a look at the full findings in this downloadable micro-report.
- Major Wins in the NYS State Budget: Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) & Empire Child Tax Credit Expansion: New York State’s Enacted Budget for FY2024 will expand access to no-cost school meals through $134 million in state funds to support schools and school districts adopting the CEP and expand the Empire State Child Tax Credit to children under the age of 4! Our director, Rachel Sabella, shared the impact of these historic investments in this statement. Through the expansion of the CEP alone, 300 school districts provided no-cost meals at more than 1,100 schools this school year, on top of the 500 districts that already provided free school meals at over 3,000 schools across the state.
Looking Forward
Despite these wins, we know that our work is not over. As we look ahead to 2024, we remain committed to ensuring that every kid has 3 meals a day, 365 days a year. For us at No Kid Hungry New York, that means…
- Ensuring the successful implementation of Summer EBT, by making sure families are aware and able to take advantage of the program, which could impact up to two million children in New York state.
- Continuing to advocate for actionable policy changes at the state and city levels, including restoring the $60 million cuts to the New York City Public Schools Office of Food and Nutrition Services, expanding no-cost school meals, and supporting tax credits for working families.
- Advocating at the federal level to improve nutrition access by modernizing the summer meals program, supporting nationwide Summer EBT, strengthening SNAP, expanding no-cost school meals, and improving WIC.
- Increasing participation in school meal programs, particularly school breakfast, by providing technical assistance, grants, and resources to support alternative meal service models and other participation-boosting strategies.
Finally, we want to reiterate our thanks for you and your support. To our partners, community organizations, school nutrition staff, and other supporters, none of this work can be accomplished without our shared commitment to make No Kid Hungry a reality. We wish you a happy and healthy 2024 and look forward to working together to expand access to nutrition programs for New Yorkers!