Thirty-ONEderful Charity Donation: Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance

Thirty-ONEderful Charity Donation: Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance

15 comments
It's the second month of "Thirty-ONEderful Charity Donation" and this month I am donating $31 to the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. July in Arkansas means long, summer days, taking vacations from work, and enjoying all that summer has to offer. For many kids in Arkansas, that means not having enough to eat. Did you know that 60% of Arkansas Students depend on schools meals? Hunger doesn't take a school break or a vacation. 



The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance works to reduce childhood hunger. They aren't just providing temporary food assistance, they are also working to create sustainable programs in communities across Arkansas and empowering Arkansansans with nutrition education and skills. To me that is SO important because it doesn't matter how much healthy food you grow or are given if you don't know how to cook it or why it is important, it will not become a priority. 


In 2009, Arkansas ranked #1 in the nation in childhood hunger. Since then, the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance has worked to make inroads to turn the tide on childhood hunger, going from 1st to 5th nationally with the program os the No Hungry Arkansas Campaign. 


Here are some of the programs that are helping Arkansas kids: 



School Breakfast Program. The Alliance’s Arkansas No Kid Hungry campaign works with school districts and individual schools across the state to introduce Breakfast After the Bell programs that make breakfast part of the school day so children start their days focused and ready to learn. As of January 2017, the Alliance has helped more than 500 Arkansas schools―through technical assistance and grants―offer Grab & Go, Breakfast in the Classroom or Second Chance Breakfast to their students. According to the Arkansas Department of Education, we have seen a 3.6 million meal increase since Breakfast After the Bell became a priority in 2011.

Afterschool Meals Program. It’s a long time from lunch one day until breakfast the next. Our staff helps connect churches, schools, Boys and Girls Clubs and other organizations with the resources they need to provide evening meals to children when school is out. Additional capacity building grants from Share Our Strength help sponsors develop successful, sustainable programs that serve more children and provide enrichment activities after school.  In 2016, 3.7 million afterschool meals were served to children who might not have otherwise had dinner. That is an increase of 21,185 meals over the previous year.

Summer Meals Program. Over 63 percent of Arkansas kids qualify for a free or reduced-price school lunch. When school is out, these children are at high risk of not getting the nutrition they need to remain active and healthy. Our staff helps organizations interested in feeding children to participate in the USDA-funded Summer Meals Program that provides free meals to children in safe, supervised locations. In 2016, the work of the Arkansas No Kid Hungry stakeholders resulted in 182 sponsor organizations serving meals at 1,044 sites across the state. More than 2.4 million meals were served to Arkansas kids during the summer of 2016.

Cooking Matters and Cooking Matters at the Store. These unique nutrition education programs teach low-income adults, teens, and kids the skills they need to plan, shop for and prepare nutritious meals on a budget.  Participation in a Cooking Matters course decreases an individual’s chance of remaining food insecure by 50%. In 2016, Cooking Matters classes and grocery store tours reached more than 9,000 Arkansans and remains an active partner in the Arkansas Governor’s Healthy, Active Arkansas 10-Year Plan to improve the health of every Arkansan.



It's hard to imagine being hungry with the amount of food and consumption that we have today, but it does still exist. So this month, my $31 donation will help provide food for children of Arkansas, education for Arkansans, and hopefully, provide more awareness to this issue that we are still facing. 


How can you get involved? You can donate here. You can volunteer here. You can learn more here



Thirty-ONEderful Charity Donation:
June - Heifer International 
July - Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance 
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15 comments

  1. It is so cool you are raising awareness for these incredible charities. Hunger is a MAJOR problem so much closer to our own communities than some of us realize. Helping kids get food is a very worthy cause.

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  2. I love giving back! These all sound like really great initiatives. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. This is a great post, and I'm glad you shared!

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  4. This is an amazing cause to raise awareness to! I love this - giving back is SO important!

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  5. Such a great cause and so sweet of you to write a post about it! We have a lot of refugees here in Austria right now (because of the war in Syria) and it's so great to see that a lot of people are helping too!

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  6. This is SUCH a cool idea! I love that you're bringing to light a really great cause!

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  7. giving back is so important! love that you are spreading light to an important cause <3

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  8. This is so amazing girl! I had no idea that the stats in Arkansas were this high!

    - xo, Azanique | www.lotsofsass.com

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  9. Kudos to you for donating and shining a light on a new cause each month! My best friend works at a foodbank, and some of the things she tells me break my heart. I'm so glad that programs like this exist!

    XO, SS || Seersucker Sass

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  10. This program, your charity, and your advocacy are all equally amazing and inspiring! Keep it up, girl!

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  11. I am so surprised to see some of these numbers! But it is so nice that there are programs that help out so much

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  12. Wow, this is eye opening. i'd be interested to see my state. What a worthy cause!

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  13. That's amazing! I miss volunteering. I learned many things when I did it

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  14. What a wonderful cause! I didn't know about these charities so thank you for sharing. :-)

    xoxo A
    www.southernbelleintraining.com

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  15. This is wonderful!! Thanks for sharing these, I didn't know about a lot of these.
    xoxo,
    Amy | Pastel N Pink

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