Nourishing Our Children

Our Future at Risk

No parent wants their child to go hungry, yet we know that many families across Northwest NC lack the resources to provide adequate nutrition for their families. Nearly 17.2 million children in our nation are at risk of hunger including 1 in 4 children in North Carolina. (Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap study)

Second Harvest Food Bank of NWNC's Childhood Hunger Programs address the problem of childhood hunger with a number of programs including the Feeding America BackPack and Kids Cafe Programs as well as summer feeding programs.

Feeding America BackPack Program A national program of Feeding America, the BackPack Program aims to address childhood hunger in rural and urban communities by providing school children at risk of hunger with backpacks of nutritious, kid-friendly foods to take home over the weekends during the school year. At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, Second Harvest Food Bank of NWNC has 59 Back-Pack programs across its 18 county service area with many more scheduled to open.

Feeding America Kids Cafe Program A national program of Feeding America, Kids Cafes aim to address the problem of childhood hunger in urban communities. Kids Cafes provide youth at risk of hunger with an evening meal, tutoring and enrichment activities three nights a week throughout the year in a safe and nuturing environment. As of May 2011, Second Harvest Food Bank of NWNC currently has 14 Kids Cafe sites, feeding eligible children. A 15th site will open soon.

Summer Feeding Programs Across the Second Harvest Food Bank of NWNC service area an average of over 50 percent of students enrolled in school qualify for the National Free and Reduced-Price Lunch program – a startling indicator of the extent to which many families are struggling economically in the region. Sadly, the majority of these children do not have access to the federal summer feeding program. In response, Second Harvest Food Bank of NWNC provides summer feeding through two targeted feeding programs. The Special Feeding Program provided families with children additional nutritious child-friendly food through the summer months. Lowes Foods and WXII supported this program with the "Bag Childhood Hunger" food drive in the month of June 2011. Through the Summer Food Service Program, Second Harvest Food Bank of NWNC supported 6 summer feeding sites (4 in Forsyth County, 1 in Guilford County and 1 in Stokes County) to feed eligible children 7 days a week while school was not in session.

For more information about Childhood Hunger Programs, contact Daisy Rodriguez, Director of Childhood Hunger, 336.784.5770 or drodriguez@secondharvest.org.

Current BackPack and Kids Cafe Programs