This latest round of grants will support new equipment, employee training and retainment, and innovative practices that encourage higher participation among high school students.
Contact — Andrew Harrell, andrewharrell@unc.edu, (984) 528-3557
Thursday, December 15, 2022 — CHAPEL HILL, NC
No Kid Hungry North Carolina recently announced more than $127,000 in grants for six school districts to help provide healthy meals to children.
“Food is the most important school supply. Without it, kids can’t focus or learn,” said Helen Roberts, School Program Manager for No Kid Hungry NC. “These grants will sustain and expand the ability of school nutrition teams to provide this critical resource for students.”
These grants will support new equipment, employee training and retainment, and innovative practices that encourage higher participation among high school students. The school districts receiving grants are:
Beaufort County Schools will use its grant to help fund new equipment, a new employee, and menu items — including iced coffee — with the goal of improving breakfast and lunch participation among young adult students at Beaufort County Early College High School.
Brunswick County Schools will update and replace aging equipment in Union Elementary School, a high-need rural school that participates in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which makes meals free for all students.
New Hanover County Schools will replace equipment such as milk coolers that saw overuse during the pandemic, when many school nutrition programs were serving meals continuously despite schools being closed, including taking meals out to pick-up sites or home deliveries.
Pitt County Schools will support a new program for assistant managers in the district, focused on training new employees who have only worked under pandemic-era emergency rules and enhancing team unity, customer service, and self-care opportunities during a time of nationwide staffing challenges.
Public Schools of Robeson County will update and replace aging equipment in Rex-Rennert Elementary school to keep up with rising enrollment and meal participation.
Wilkes County Schools will place new point-of-service computers in the cafeterias of up to 17 schools. This updated equipment helps gets students in crowded cafeterias through the line faster, giving them more time to eat.
About 60% of North Carolina’s 1.5 million public school students qualify for free and reduced-price school meals. Improving access to school meals has been linked to better academic outcomes and social-emotional behaviors. School meals also are healthier than most meals brought from home.
School nutrition programs nationwide have faced greater obstacles in recent years, including supply chain disruptions, rising costs, and staffing challenges. The end of pandemic-era federal rules that made meals available to all students at no cost has also led to many losing access to school meals and historic meal debt for families and districts during this school year.
No Kid Hungry NC has provided grants to school nutrition programs and community sponsors that feed kids since it began in 2011. These grants are supported by the national No Kid Hungry campaign, which is a part of the nonprofit Share Our Strength. Since schools first closed because of the pandemic in March 2020, No Kid Hungry has distributed almost $2 million in grant funding to North Carolina. More details on these grants can be found on No Kid Hungry’s Grant Impact Map.
About No Kid Hungry North Carolina
No Kid Hungry North Carolina is a partnership launched in 2011 with the national nonprofit Share Our Strength and state leaders to connect children with under-utilized federal nutrition programs. It is working to end childhood hunger in the state by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. No Kid Hungry NC became a part of the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in 2014, where it works in collaboration with the Carolina Hunger Initiative. Learn more at NoKidHungryNC.org.