Walmart Foundation Helps Kids Gain Access to Food and Nutrition Education as Summer Months Bring Risk of Hunger
June 22 2015 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
$15.5 million in grants to seven national
nonprofits support meal and nutrition programs this summer and
year-round in over 7,700 U.S. communities
Today, the Walmart Foundation announces $15.5 million in grants
to seven national nonprofits to support free meal and nutrition
education programs this summer and throughout the school year. The
programs in more than 7,700 communities across the country will
help over one million low-income children and their families gain
access to critical meals and teach them how to cook and eat healthy
together. The nonprofits receiving funding from the Walmart
Foundation include: National Council of Young Men’s Christian
Association (Y-USA), National Recreation and Park Association
(NRPA), Baylor University’s Texas Hunger Initiative, National 4-H
Council, National League of Cities, FoodCorps and Common
Threads.
These grants come at a challenging time for the millions of
children who are out of school and without access to school meals
and daily routines. Many children who benefit from eating free and
reduced priced school meals do not participate in summer meal
programs. Although this gap is slowly closing, only one in six
low-income children who relied on school lunch during the school
year participated in a summer nutrition program last year,
according to a new report issued by the Food Research and Action
Center (FRAC). This leaves many children vulnerable to hunger and
poor nutrition during the summertime and poses a risk to future
health.
“While many children look forward to the summer months as a time
to relax, it can be a difficult time for families who rely on meals
at school,” said Karrie Denniston, director of hunger relief and
nutrition at the Walmart Foundation. “As in years past, this summer
we continue our work with longstanding nonprofit partners to help
more kids access meals and learn to develop nutritious eating
habits so they can live healthy lives.”
The grants from the Walmart Foundation will serve families
through the following programs:
Nonprofit Grant Amount Grant
Overview National Council of Young Men’s Christian Associations
(Y-USA) $5.3 million Enable the expansion of
year-long food programs to provide healthy meals, snacks and
enriching activities that support the holistic development of
200,000 kids in more than 2,300 communities across the United
States. National Recreation and
Park Association (NRPA) $2.3 million Provide more than 15 million
meals to underserved youth, and provide nutrition education to more
than 257,000 children and families in 80 communities across the
United States. Baylor
University’s Texas Hunger Initiative $2.2 million Increase child
participation in summer and afterschool meal programs in 12 regions
across Texas.
National 4-H Council
$2 million Provide nutrition education in 24 states for underserved
youths, with a focus on expanding programs for African Americans
and Hispanic audiences. National
League of Cities $1.5 million Implement year-round feeding
programs, with the support of the Food Research and Action Center,
to provide 2.4 million meals to low-income children.
FoodCorps $1.2 million Provide training and
resources needed to help children access nutrition education in 500
schools in 16 states, and Washington D.C. Programs leverage the
USDA My Plate curriculum to teach kids about healthy food,
build/tend to school gardens and bring locally sourced food from
farms into school cafeterias.
Common Threads $1 million Expand hands-on cooking and nutrition
education curriculum in six cities to teach children and their
families in underserved communities the skills needed to get
America’s kids cooking for life. This grant will also be used to
develop a digital platform for students to reinforce lessons
through games and collaborative projects.
As the nation’s largest grocer, Walmart is uniquely positioned
to lead on the issue of fighting hunger and helping provide access
to nutrition education. As part of a commitment to creating a more
sustainable food system, Walmart has set goals to provide four
billion meals to those in need in the U.S. and help four million
people access nutrition education through 2020. Through the
commitment, Walmart is also dedicated to improving the
affordability of food by lowering the “true cost” of food for both
customers and the environment, and improving the safety and
transparency of the food chain.
To learn more about Walmart’s commitments to fight hunger and
provide nutrition education, visit foundation.walmart.com.
About Philanthropy at
Walmart
By using our strengths to help others, Walmart and the Walmart
Foundation create opportunities for people to live better every
day. We have stores in 28 countries, employing more than 2.2
million associates and doing business with thousands of suppliers
who, in turn, employ millions of people. We are helping people live
better by accelerating upward job mobility and economic development
for the retail workforce; addressing hunger and making healthier,
more sustainably-grown food a reality; and building strong
communities where we operate and inspiring our associates to give
back. Whether it is helping to lead the fight against hunger in the
United States with $2 billion in cash and in-kind donations or
supporting Women’s Economic Empowerment through a series of grants
totaling $10 million to the Women in Factories training program in
Bangladesh, China, India and Central America, Walmart and the
Walmart Foundation are not only working to tackle key social
issues, we are also collaborating with others to inspire solutions
for long-lasting systemic change. To learn more about Walmart’s
giving, visit www.foundation.walmart.com.
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WalmartTricia Moriarty,
1-800-331-0085news.walmart.com/reporter
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