$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.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150622005287/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2015