COLUMBUS — Last week, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation announced $1,874,980 in grants to seven national and statewide non-profit organizations to support local hunger programs in communities throughout Ohio.
Tri-County North Local Schools in Lewisburg received a $2,000 grant from Children’s Hunger Alliance to expand school breakfast participation, as part of the funding awarded.
The grants to those hunger relief programs in the state are part of more than $33 million in grants given to nonprofits nationwide and illustrate Walmart and the Walmart Foundation’s commitment to fight hunger.
Programs receiving the funding included the Ohio-based Children’s Hunger Alliance. The alliance received a $1.5 million grant earlier this year to help Ohio childcare locations provide 2.2 million meals through the federally reimbursed Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and develop a statewide needs assessment to determine which locations are in need of CACFP sponsorship. The non-profit also allocated nearly $200,000 of the grant to expand school breakfast participation in 36 local school districts in Ohio.
Children’s Hunger Alliance also received $35,000 through the Food Research and Action Center to help local anti-hunger organizations with outreach support in underserved/high-need areas, help schools provide access to breakfast, lunch and afterschool and summer meals for students, and provide technical assistance for state and local governments to update policies impacting SNAP and school feeding programs.
• Eight local YMCA affiliates in Ohio received $240,500 from the YMCA of the USA to support initiatives that provide meals to children during after school and summer programs.
• Three local park and recreation departments in Ohio received $50,000 from the National Recreation and Park Association to provide meals and nutrition education programs to children.
• Seven Ohio schools received $17,000 from the Chef Ann Foundation to support programs to increase fresh fruit and vegetable procurement as well as offer nutrition education and fruit and vegetable tastings for students.
• The Ohio Association of Food Banks received $20,000 from the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities to implement changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) application and renewal process and improve existing outreach programs on the state and local level.
• Three Ohio non-profits received $11,980 from Share Our Strength to provide people eight-week cooking courses, “Cooking Matters at the Store” shopping tours and create a self-guided nutrition education application.
“Walmart is dedicated to ensuring every family has access to healthy and affordable food,” said Jeff Stone, Walmart Market Manager. “We’re proud to work with these local non-profits to support hunger relief and nutrition education for Ohio families in need.”
The USDA reported that in 2015, 42.2 million people in America, including more than 13.1 million children, lived in households at risk of struggling with hunger. The Walmart and Walmart Foundation grants will fund nutrition education and meal programs for youth, and increase families’ access to fruits and vegetables through state and federal nutrition assistance programs.
