Nine million children in the U.S. are facing hunger—that’s one in eight kids. The figure is startling, the same all-too-common odds a woman has of getting breast cancer. Now what if we told you that, unlike breast cancer, child hunger is an avoidable tragedy? We can actually do something about it. We can move the needle to finally end this crisis.

This quarter, Veronica Beard is proud to partner with No Kid Hungry, the only national campaign solely focused on ending childhood hunger in America and making sure every child gets three nutritious meals a day. From now until the end of the year, proceeds* from every veronicabeard.com/en-bm order will benefit the No Kid Hungry, which equips schools and community organizations with the technical assistance, funds and resources they need to connect kids with healthy food and advocates for policies that will feed more kids.

The cause has never been more urgent. Because if you found the opening number shocking, consider this: That figure, from 2021, is an improvement over data collected in the prior years. In 2019 and 2020, the stats were even higher—one in six children were food insecure. And it looks like we’re heading back in that direction again.

During the pandemic, No Kid Hungry fought for policies that allowed schools and community organizations to adapt their programs. Elected leaders responded to the crisis and invested in proven child nutrition programs like SNAP benefits and Pandemic EBT and waivers. But now, with COVID receding from the public’s attention, many of these programs are no longer offering the same support to families that continue struggling to make ends meet while inflation and ongoing supply chain issues increase.

The bottom line? The pandemic taught us we have the tools to reduce child hunger in the U.S. In this country, no child should miss meals and no parent should make a tradeoff between buying groceries or paying bills. We know the policies and programs that work. As Lisa Davis, senior vice president of Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, says, “We've never been closer to ending hunger and building a more sustainable ladder out of poverty.”

We hope you join us in supporting this worthy cause.

WHY THIS MATTERS

2022 saw the largest one-year spike in poverty on record, up to 12.4% last year from 7.8% in 2021, according to the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure.

Of those surveyed (2023 No Kid Hungry survey),58% of middle-income reported that they struggled to put food on the table in the past 12 months while 62% of parents with lower incomes and 45% of parents with middle incomes participated in food assistance programs for the first time last year.

For many kids, lunch at school may be the last healthy meal of the day. Those meals are important, providing not just nutrition but a sense of security and stability.

Research shows that kids who eat breakfast are more focused, score significantly higher on tests, and miss less days of school. Likewise, students who participate in after-school meals and programs see their test scores improve. Attendance and graduation rates go up, too. “This is an essential program in our district,” said Donna Martin, a school nutrition director for Burke County Public Schools in Georgia. “The kids are willing to stay after school for tutoring because of the hot meal.”

HOW YOUR DONATIONS HELP

At No Kid Hungry, $1 can help provide 10 meals** for kids—but it’s not because the organization gets a bulk discount on food. In fact, it doesn’t buy food at all—because lack of food isn’t the problem in the U.S. The problem is ensuring that children have reliable access to the food.No Kid Hungry does that by supporting school and community meals programs, providing grants and advocating for better laws and policies.

No Kid partners with trusted organizations to help enroll more kids and families in federal benefit programs like SNAP and WIC by prioritizing state-level efforts that help the programs work better, reach more people, and expand eligibility. For example, No Kid Hungry works with the American Academy of Pediatrics and other national partners to increase the number of places and providers where children are screened for food insecurity and referred to programs like SNAP and WIC.

No Kid Hungry’s flexible grants allow school nutrition programs to secure funding for equipment, staffing and outreach needs. Since 2020, the nonprofit has provided over $120 million in grants to communities across the country.

No Kid Hungry serves as advocates for children, working with elected officials and government agencies to ensure that the policies and regulations that guide and fund child nutrition programs are responsive to family and community needs and result in increased access to healthy meals by children. Learn more about its advocacy work here.

No Kid Hungry brings together a world-class team of analysts, researchers, trainers and program managers at its Center for Best Practices. It hosts conferences and webinars and provides research materials, case studies, reports and online resources so that everyone working to feed kids has the resources, support and know-how they need.

*Veronica Beard is partnering with No Kid Hungry to help end childhood hunger. For every purchase on veronicabeard.com/en-bm between 10/1/23 and 12/21/23, $5 will be donated to No Kid Hungry with a minimum guarantee of $300,000.

**Donations help support programs that feed kids; No Kid Hungry does not provide individual meals. Learn more at NoKidHungry.org/OneDollar.