No Kid Hungry
If you have a school-age student in need of breakfast and lunch this summer (or know of someone who does), simply text “FOOD” to 877877 , they will ask for your zip code and then you will receive a message back with a location closest to where they can get a free summer meal.
The service is also available in Spanish, by texting the word “COMIDA” instead of “FOOD” to 877877.
This is a nationwide program, run by No Kid Hungry, so please repost for all of the children who are struggling to get enough food. Even if your child isn’t in need, someone else’s is. No child deserves to go hungry, ever. Please repost wherever you are able. Thank you.
- Shaking in Up for No Kid Hungry Organization
What a welcome back home to LA from Vegas before yet another weekend ahead of travel!
Yesterday, this gal got to celebrate National Chocolate Milkshake Day by having my first experience at Shake Shack!
Guittard Chocolate Company and Shake Shack are already partners, as the modern, roadside burger concept uses Guittard Chocolate in its chocolate milkshakes and as a topping on its custards. But, to strengthen this partnership, on National Chocolate Milkshake Day, Guittard Chocolate donated $1 to my beloved friends at No Kid Hungry for every chocolate milkshake sold at Shake Shack locations across the country.
Then, after an afternoon of chocolate shakes, burgers and fries, Nick and I headed downtown to the Hedley & Bennett x Samsung launch party celebrating their all-new collaboration - the #ApronSquadKitchen - where I, for one, cannot WAIT to collaborate and cook in.
We enjoyed cocktails from @donjuliotequila (and, I even sloppily made a few myself), indulged in pies with my sweet buddy @valerieconfctns, teamed up in the kitchen with @prosciuttosnacks of @sqirlla and @adamperrylang, wished for my dream of a @lecreuset kitchen, danced to @TheFlashdanceDJs and - with our friends @ravayna, @davidcoephoto, @caroledixon, @mommy.diary - toasted with intentions for one another to @justinwine & @landmarkwine.
While I love the tantalizing travel my fun career brings me, as Dorothy once chanted long before modern-day mantras:
“There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”
*Go follow all the fun instastories over on @DineAndDishWithDawn!
- What can we do about childhood hunger?
Some days I don’t eat because I forget that I can.
My body is trained on the historical memory of mornings without food.
Even when we grow up, those of us who lived daily with hunger pangs never outgrow them. This is the first thought I had when I read the latest Census figures saying that in 2011, over 46 million Americans live in poverty. Over 16 millon of them are children.
In America, when children go hungry, we almost never hear about it unless it is an extreme case. Politicians, policymakers and the like discuss those children as an anonymous swath of our nation. Faces are attached to their stories when it is too late to feed them, when they have been starved and beaten and left to die by people who are supposed to care for them or when they are too weak to concentrate in school so their grades keep slipping.
When I think about child hunger, I remember sitting in front of a television in the Bronx apartment I shared with my mother, belly half-full, watching USA for Africa video, We Are The World. My favorite musicians, including Michael Jackson, must have really cared about kids like me, I thought.
But all the photos in public service announcements back then were of children a world away.
On one hand, pictures of African children with swollen bellies and pencil thin arms, flies hugging their brown skin in the sun made me grateful. I had clothes, I was not that skinny. My hunger was not as deep.
But no one was singing about the hunger I had. It felt the same, though, like I was languishing just out of plain view while people watched, my body hoarding fat in weird places while I fantasized about food while we were in between checks.
Poverty is an intimate battle that wounds those closest to it. Many of the scars I bear from childhood poverty are all internal – they are how I started emotional eating as an adult. For days there was no food at all, and then, when I got surrounded by it, I ate everything and saved some to overeat later, just in case.
I only experienced full refrigerators when I was in my twenties and I was old enough to hoard food. As a welfare kid who was sometimes homeless, food was all non-perishable and fast. It came in plastic bags from the church pantries and on Styrofoam dishes in soup kitchens for holidays.
The only fresh food I knew about was delivered in school in little compartments: tater tots, pizza and wrinkly french fries. Salads only entered my lexicon at boarding school and later in college. People who wanted to be whole and eat clean ate plants – things I never saw growing in Philadelphia, where I spent the first part of my life or in New York City, where I came of age as a teenager.
I think of hunger as my frenemy. Hunger is a friend because I am motivated to avoid it. I still thank God for helping me pass the days and nights when dinner was water and chips or Little Debbie snacks for 50 pennies from the corner bodega.
Now, I’m a gardener and a foodie. My pantry is not stocked, but in a clutch, when funds are tight, I know how to make meals stretch. To gather chard and peppers from my garden is a miracle. It means so much more than just plants growing in my back yard. It means sustenance, it means I can revel in the moments between dawn and dusk without worrying that I will go without.
When I think about hunger, I still see those babies. I know better than to think that just because there are still about 50 million Americans living below the poverty line stories that begin, “At least things didn’t get worse” miss the point. (Oh, the irony of the Bloomberg News Service which helped NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg amass his fortune. He has 11 homes and has said, probably without shame, that the homeless shelters in New York City are too nice. Mike, if you are listening, you should be ashamed of yourself.)
Anyway, I’m writing this toward helping to find a solution. I’ve started supporting No Kid Hungry in the best way I know how - with my voice, my time and attention, since I don’t have very much money to give at the moment. I will participate in this year’s Dine Out For No Kid Hungry between Sept. 16 and 22nd, and I hope some of you will, too. More than that, I hope it helps.
The group is also having a TwEAT OUT all day on Monday, September 17th between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. EST.
How to Participate:
On Twitter:
Follow @Dine_Out and @NoKidHungry.
Retweet messages about the Dine Out For No Kid Hungry from these two accounts.
Use the hashtag #NoKidHungry in all your tweets
Share this tweet:I’m dining out for #NoKidHungry this week. Join me by finding a participating restaurant in your area: http://dineout.nokidhungry.org/maps
On Facebook:
“Like” No Kid HungryShare news about Dine Out For No Kid Hungry with your Facebook friends:
I’m dining out this week for Share Our Strength’s Dine Out For No Kid Hungry. Join me by finding a participating restaurant near you! http://dineout.nokidhungry.org/maps
- It's never too late to make a difference
“600,000 kids on the brink of starvation. That should be a headline around the world” Anderson Cooper posted on twitter regarding the recent news coverage in Somalia.
Did you know that 1 in 4 kids struggle with hunger in America?
It’s a shocking and heartbreaking reality even here at home.
Share Our Strength is an organization working hard to change that.
Starvation is a terrible thing, but a child going hungry is just cruel. Children need nourishment for development, both in the physical aspect and mental. Simply, it has a great impact in the well being of a child.
At NGenSoft we believe in helping in great causes, so when a friend mentioned the Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation event, I jumped at the chance to help.
I’m the one on the left.
The event went off without a hitch, to a packed house. This is great, since 100% of ticket sales goes to support the No Kid Hungry efforts.
Money helps, but time is priceless. Volunteering, is not only good for the soul, but sometimes can have a bigger impact than anything money can buy.
I got to help a friend, help kids, and I had a great time. I gave my time, but I feel I got a lot more in return.
Find your own way to give back. There are plenty of great causes that you could make in difference in.
-Maria
TWITTER Do you realize together we could end childhood hunger in the US by 2015? http://j.mp/10Mbl7 BeTheChange NoKidHungry
If there’s only one click you make today…it’d be really cool if it was this: http://bit.ly/bCrkjv NoKidHungry via @SpeakToTheGeek
- Aspire to Inspire
By: Tracee Schiebel
When one pursues something with aspiration, they are directing their hopes or ambitions toward a goal. When I signed up to be a HungerU crew member, I recognized that I was going to do just that. I knew that the goal of the HungerU Tour was to educate, discuss and empower individuals to do something about the hunger crisis. In order to do that, I had to be inspired about the subject as well. I found my inspiration reading literature relating to hunger, and also through recalling a first-hand experience in Argentina.
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Good morning from the University of Wyoming! We are right outside the college of agriculture beside the Prexy’s Pasture #HungerU #HungerCantWait
In January 2011, I traveled to Argentina to learn about agriculture in a different country. While I was there I saw amazing fields of soybeans, fine beef animals and a capital city market filled with produce. But not even a mile way, right next to the most financially sound city in the country, there was extreme poverty and hunger. The line between the two was so distinct that it seemed unreal. There were towering hotels directly next to huts stacked on top of each other. People dressed in suits and shiny shoes were next to half-naked kids running around with no supervision or shoes on their feet. This image in Argentina will never escape my mind and drives me to make a change. This is my inspiration, and with that I want to educate and inspire others about the hunger crisis.
So, with my inspiration in tact and my aspiration to make a difference, I thought surely that the HungerU crew members were going to be the ones who inspire, and that the students we meet and talk with were going to be the ones motivated to take action—man was I wrong.
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#UWyo has been awesome! Loved our time on Prexy’s Pasture! #HungerU
At each and every stop I am continuously inspired by the actions that students are taking to make a difference. Throughout my training for HungerU, I thought that we would provide inspiration and not receive any. However, at Utah State I met several students who have been on mission trips rebuilding houses. At the University of Idaho I met a student leader that helped organize the Vandal Food Pantry on campus. At the University of Nevada, Michelle inspired me because she donates food to her school’s backpack program from which she once received food assistance. The University of Wyoming did not fall short of providing me with inspiration either. Today I met Anne who regularly provides short-term loans to developing countries. She donates twenty dollars that the business will use as a start-up cost and later will repay to her when the business is stable. Then she reinvests her twenty dollars into another business.
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This morning we visited with a student leader who testified to the hunger that exists in America. She told us of personal experiences that she faced have sculpted her view of food security in America. Victoria was the one out of six. #HungerU #HungerCantWait
There are countless possibilities to make a difference relating to world hunger or any other cause. This Tour has taught me that just because I am the one inspiring doesn’t mean that I also can not be inspired. If everyone aspired to make a difference and inspired others along the way, together we could make a change. Always aspire to inspire!
- I'm #Blessed
by: Justin Green
The hashtag “Blessed” has been used on social media for a number of reasons—a new car #Blessed, a new t.v. #Blessed. It is usually reserved for larger purchases in life. I tend to save it for when I am talking about my best Twitter friend, or when I have Starbucks, to make light of the word, in a joking sense.
I have never wondered where my next meal would come from or when it would come. I remember when I was younger and I would complain about what I was eating, my mom would always tell me that I am lucky because I always had dinner on the table every night.
Saying this makes me think of the show on the Discovery channel that is about homesteaders in Alaska. I was watching an episode once, and through a hardship, the family had to harvest one of their most-loved milk cows for food in the winter. Watching this, it broke my heart. It would be one of the hardest things I would ever have to do if I was in that position. I honestly do not think I could do it.
In one of my speech classes in college, our teacher made us watch a video where children from low income families around the world read “first world problem”tweets, and it really opened my eyes that we complain about some things that other people might never see in their life.
I’m not trying to say that my life always has been easy. Have there been hard times in my families’ lives? Of course, everyone has a hard time every now and then. But it was very short lived. Most of the time, the hardship was gone when my parents’ next paycheck came in the bank. I never have had to go out and walk to the market to buy dinner, I never have had to go out in a field to harvest dinner, I never have had to bargain something off to have dinner and thankfully, I never have had to say goodbye to one of my pasture cows for dinner.
To tie these stories together, the word blessed is taken for granted when I use it. Like I mentioned, I use it for a joke most of the time. However, when I really look at it, I have a warm bed at the end of the night and I have a hot and nutritious meal at the ready when I want it. I have these things that some people do not have and, therefore, I am truly #Blessed with my life.
- Four Weeks Till Show
If you haven’t heard already, I’m doing an all-cover/all-request charity show via StageIt on Friday, November 15, 2013. All proceeds will go to No Kid Hungry, an organization whose aim is to end childhood hunger.
The material for the show will come directly from requests. The top three tippers will get to hear their cover request live on the air. The leading request is “Don’t Fade Away” from my album The Promise of Summer. Second is “Gates of the Country” by Black Lab. Tickets are limited.
If you are considering going to the show, why not sign up right now? Head on over to the StageIt page by clicking here. As you sign up and offer tips, please leave a request in the chat room. The deadline for pre-show requests is at midnight on November 14th.
Why is ending childhood hunger important?
Quoting the No Kid Hungry resource page, childhood hunger affects emotional and social well-being in at least two ways:
- Children who regularly do not get enough nutritious food to eat have significantly higher levels of behavioral, emotional and academic problems and be more aggressive and anxious.
- Teens who regularly do not get enough to eat are more likely to be suspended from school and have difficulty getting along with other kids.
Attending the show, offering a tip, and making a request can help change our communities and make them a better place for kids.
If you like this idea, but can’t make the show, you can visit my No Kid Hungry fundraising page by clicking here. While StageIt giving is not tax deductible, a donation made through the fundraising page is. Feel free to kick in a few bucks. Why not?
“A little food for thought: Food can empower children. Food can inspire change. Food can create community. Food and family are the keys to a simpler healthier world.”
Marc Vetri, “Setting the Table for Better Minds, Better Bodies and Better People”
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“…Food is more than fodder. It is an act of giving and receiving because the experience at table is a communal sharing; talk begins to flow, feelings are expressed, and a sense of well-being takes over.” - Marion Cunningham
Kim Severson, "Marion Cunningham, Home Cooking Advocate, Dies at 90”
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“Even if it’s only once a week…”
Bettina Elias Siegel, “New Study Says Family Dinners Are Overrated: Why I Disagree”
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Marion Cunningham’s obituary is sandwiched between these two other articles for some sort of clever-but-serious reason. I hope her message stays afloat. I think the fate of kids, our bodies, our heads, our days, depends on it floating.
to swimming xx
- One-year Waiver on Healthier Child Nutrition Standards: Does it help or hurt?
Taylor Pate
I created this blog post for the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance blog, so I just went ahead and decided that I would put it on here.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act has been a source of contention and debate since its implementation in 2010. Its focus was to improve child nutrition in schools in order to promote healthy food choices early on. The U. S. House of Representatives recently proposed a bill that would allow schools to waive the standards for a year so that they could get their programs in order: (http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/bills-113hr-fc-ap-fy2015-ap00-agriculture.pdf). My question is this: would this year allow schools to actually become more efficient with their programs if they aren’t actually implementing the new guidelines? It seems that this would be a more regressive step in the process.
National Public Radio reported that the School Nutrition Association (SNA) did not originally ask for these waivers, but rather for support, to aid their programs. Now, the SNA is making the argument that these stricter regulations are making it more difficult for members to comply. This may be attributed to the influence of corporate lobbyists. In response, the Senate amended its agriculture appropriations bill so that all programs wouldn’t be required to waive the standards. This amendment can be seen here:http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rulesforengagement/senatelunchammendment.pdf. My worry is that if this waiver is granted, further steps could be taken to nix the new standards altogether, reverting back to the unhealthy practices that were formerly acceptable in the school system. Rather than beating around the bush and granting this waiver, it may be more advantageous for the health of our children to have school nutrition directors seek help from their state officials and the USDA.
Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign asserts that children that don’t get enough nutritious foods have much higher levels of behavioral, emotional, and academic problems. We believe the No Kid Hungry campaign position, “increasing access to healthy food where children live, learn, and play,” lays a strong foundation for present and future health. With 17% of children and adolescents that are obese in the United States― and around 14% in Arkansas―we may want to re-evaluate whether or not this waiver will help or further hurt our children in the long run.
1. http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/healthy-hunger-free-kids-act
2. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/06/04/33foodfight.h33.html
4 http://www.nokidhungry.org/pdfs/school-breakfast-white-paper.pdf
5 http://www.fitness.gov/eat-healthy/why-is-it-important/
6 http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/stateprograms/fundedstates/pdf/arkansas-state-profile.pdf
- StageIt Results
Over the past eight weeks, I have been gearing up for a charity show on StageIt.com, an online music venue. Last Friday was the show. It was a great success.
My goal was to raise $250 for No Kid Hungry, a charity whose aim is to end childhood hunger. After all the tips and ticket sales were processed, as well as StageIt fees paid, we ended up with $296.
The money raised from this show will go to help hungry kids. $1 can provide a child with access to ten meals. In one light, this show will provide 296 children with school breakfast for two weeks. $46 can supply a child with a year’s worth of food. In another view, this performance will feed 6 kids for a year.
The set list was fun. StageIt pays blanket royalties so that artists can perform cover songs legally and legitimately. Being so, the original idea was to play all cover songs. Many requests came in for tunes I had written, so it ended up being about 60/40 covers to originals. It was a joy to learn new songs, ones that fans of my own music really like.
Tech wise, things haven’t been better. The main rig in the studio burned out two weeks ago, which required a new I/O system. I opted for the Scarlett 18i/20. Thunderbolt interfaces are just around the corner so I didn’t want to sink too much into something that will be obsolete in 18 months. I’ll be able to transition the Scarlett into a remote rig once that happens. Anyway, Scarlett sounds fantastic. It has an onboard mixer, which I used for the show. I used a room mic for a little ambience. The sound was tight, focused, and cool. Doing a soundcheck with the StageIt tech department was a good idea. The technician said it sounded great.
If there’s one thing that could have improved, it was attendance. Only 20 people attended. That’s not bad, but it’s been higher in the past. We’re trying a Monday night slot next time. I’m curious how that will go over.
Until next time…
- A Sweet Day for No Kid Hungry
{photos by Ken L. of Hungry Rabbit NYC}
We couldn’t have asked for better weather at the Brooklyn Flea on Saturday - thank YOU all for making a beautiful day even more so by sharing your love in baked goods and sweets. We couldn’t have done it without each of our bakers, volunteers, sponsors and supporters!
Because of your support, we were able to raise
$1,865$2,015 for No Kid Hungry!UPDATED 6/16/14: NYC Bake Sale beat out all of the blogger bake sales this year to earn the $10,000 match in our name from Domino Sugar!!
Thank you to our sponsors for providing awesome prizes to encourage donations:
Le Creuset, King Arthur Flour, Sweet & Simple, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Zugar Haus, Chloe Doughy, SlopeGirl Knits
And a special thanks to the Brooklyn Flea for providing us with such a great space to host the bake sale. Until next year!
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