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A sea of 150 elementary and middle school students from Austin and Waco met on the steps of the Capitol today to sing, cheer and kick off the Texas No Kid Hungry Campaign.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell and a diverse group of corporate, education, nonprofit and government leaders spoke to the students and other attendees about a new partnership aimed to end childhood hunger by utilizing existing nutritional programs and launching a breakfast pilot program in 10 districts across the state.
Weve got more food than we need. A food shortage is not the issue. But we have a problem with food reaching kids who are in need, Staples said. Were calling on all of Texas to step up and join us to make certain that no kid goes hungry.
The Texas No Kid Hungry Campaign is a public-private partnership with the Texas Hunger Initiative, which is a project of Baylor Universitys School of Social Work and the national childrens hunger organization Share Our Strength, which is providing $230,000 for the first year of the project. The initiative is also receiving support from Wal-Mart and from Maximus, a health and human services contractor. The Texas campaign is part of Share Our Strengths national No Kid Hungry Campaign.
The purpose of the campaign is to end food insecurity in children by 2015. Food insecurity is when a person consistently faces hunger or lives in fear of starvation.
Texas has one of the highest food insecurity rates in the nation, and thats something we cant be proud of, said Bill Ludwig, the southwest regional administrator for the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. A hungry child has absentee problems, a hungry child has severe behavior problems, and simply put, a hungry child cannot learn. Ludwig said that more than 1.8 million children in Texas are at risk of hunger.
The partnerships focus during its first year is to connect more eligible low-income children to federally funded school breakfasts and summer meals. Of the more than 2.4 million students in the state who get a free or reduced-price lunch at school, fewer than 1.4 million participate in the School Breakfast Program.
Texas Hunger Initiative Director Jeremy Everett said there are a couple reasons for low participation in school breakfasts. For one, many kids dont get to school early, so they dont get a chance to eat, he said. And also, in mixed income schools, theres a social stigma attached if you are the only kid eating in the cafeteria in the morning, everyones going to know you have a lower income.
Read more Texas Launches No Kid Hungry Campaign — Public Education | The Texas Tribune
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell and a diverse group of corporate, education, nonprofit and government leaders spoke to the students and other attendees about a new partnership aimed to end childhood hunger by utilizing existing nutritional programs and launching a breakfast pilot program in 10 districts across the state.
Weve got more food than we need. A food shortage is not the issue. But we have a problem with food reaching kids who are in need, Staples said. Were calling on all of Texas to step up and join us to make certain that no kid goes hungry.
The Texas No Kid Hungry Campaign is a public-private partnership with the Texas Hunger Initiative, which is a project of Baylor Universitys School of Social Work and the national childrens hunger organization Share Our Strength, which is providing $230,000 for the first year of the project. The initiative is also receiving support from Wal-Mart and from Maximus, a health and human services contractor. The Texas campaign is part of Share Our Strengths national No Kid Hungry Campaign.
The purpose of the campaign is to end food insecurity in children by 2015. Food insecurity is when a person consistently faces hunger or lives in fear of starvation.
Texas has one of the highest food insecurity rates in the nation, and thats something we cant be proud of, said Bill Ludwig, the southwest regional administrator for the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. A hungry child has absentee problems, a hungry child has severe behavior problems, and simply put, a hungry child cannot learn. Ludwig said that more than 1.8 million children in Texas are at risk of hunger.
The partnerships focus during its first year is to connect more eligible low-income children to federally funded school breakfasts and summer meals. Of the more than 2.4 million students in the state who get a free or reduced-price lunch at school, fewer than 1.4 million participate in the School Breakfast Program.
Texas Hunger Initiative Director Jeremy Everett said there are a couple reasons for low participation in school breakfasts. For one, many kids dont get to school early, so they dont get a chance to eat, he said. And also, in mixed income schools, theres a social stigma attached if you are the only kid eating in the cafeteria in the morning, everyones going to know you have a lower income.
Read more Texas Launches No Kid Hungry Campaign — Public Education | The Texas Tribune