Overview
Take Action
Reports and Updates
Special Initiative: End Childhood Hunger
Special Initiative: Feed Your Brain
Key Hunger and Nutrition Partners
Other Resources

Overview

Washington's rate of hunger and food insecurity has consistently remained above the national average. Research shows that hunger rates are higher in rural areas, in immigrant households, and in households with children. Hunger affects children's physical, emotional and behavioral development. Children who experience hunger are sick more often and more likely to be hospitalized. And, hungry children cannot learn.

Fortunately, the United States Department of Agriculture provides a safety net for low-income families to help them put nutritious food on the table. Some of the programs that comprise this safety net include the Basic Food Program (Food Stamps), WIC, and Child Nutrition Programs. However, there are many barriers that prevent families from accessing these critical programs. The Children's Alliance works to expand, protect, promote and improve federally funded food and nutrition programs. We do this through outreach, public policy and administrative advocacy.

If you are interested in helping start summer lunch programs in your community, if you have ideas on how to improve service at local food stamp offices, if you would like to join the Children's Action Network Hunger Subscription, please contact Linda Stone at linda [at] childrensalliance [dot] org.

Take Action

• Find out how you can act to improve the lives of children, and join our Children's Action Network
  
  
• Keep our Promises to Hungry Kids! Children's Alliance2008 Policy Priorities
  
  
• Download the 2008 Hunger Policy Paper (pdf)
  
  
• Dowload the Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition 2008 Legislative Agenda (pdf)
  

Reports and Updates

New! 2008 Legislative Session Review: Ending Childhood Hunger (pdf)

2008 Legislative Session Review: Full Report (pdf)

2007 End of Session Report - PULLOUT SECTION: More "Brain Fuel" for Hungry Children

2007 End of Session Report - FULL REPORT

• Hungry in Washington, November 2007
  
  
• Comparison of House and Senate Farm Bills (12/4/2007)


• Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition letter to Congress: End the Erosion of Food Stamp Benefits (5/21/07)



• 2007 policy paper - SCREEN version, best viewed on screen (color). PRINT version, best for printing (black and white).


• WSNA School Breakfast State Participation - Sept-Oct 2006. You can also download the Excel spreadsheet.



• Hungry in Washington, November 2006



• Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition 2007 Legislative Agenda (pdf)



•  Advocates for Families and Farms comment on proposed changes to WIC food package, 10/30/06 (pdf)



•  Poverty and Food Insecurity Among School-Aged Children in Washington, 1/24/06



•  Food Stamps: Supporting Healthy Families and Communities in Washington, 8/31/05



• Read the Children's Alliance's hunger policy paper for the 2006 legislative session (pdf)



• Update on Hunger in Washington



• Hungry in Washington: Acting on the Evidence



• Understanding Hunger in Washington: Interviews with Washington's Hungry



• Hunger Facts in Washington

Special Initiative: End Childhood Hunger

End Childhood Hunger in Washington is a two-year project aimed at ensuring that every child in every corner of Washington State gets three nutritious meals each and every day.

We Can End Childhood Hunger
The Children Alliance is organizing and collaborating across the state to develop a blueprint for community-wide mobilization that brings stakeholders together in a concerted campaign to end childhood hunger.

The Resources Are There to Succeed
Increasing participation in already existing federal food programs makes it possible to reduce hunger dramatically, with relatively low expenditures of local public and private resources. Through this leveraging process, Washington would obtain an enormous “bang for the buck.”

A Plan to End Childhood Hunger in Washington
The Children’s Alliance is partnering with Share Our Strength, with the support of local and national foundations, to develop a 10 year plan to End Childhood Hunger in Washington. 

Benchmarks and Results
The plan for Washington will include quantifiable benchmarks to gauge progress towards our goals. These will include milestones to help determine what is working and how much progress has been made towards goals. 

Yet the final measurement of success is simple: We will know we have achieved our goal when every child in Washington receives three nutritious meals — each and every day.

For more information on the End Childhood Hunger Project visit the End Childhood Hunger Wiki or contact Coordinator Claire Lane. 

Special Initiative: Feed Your Brain

Feed Your Brain 2008 Grants Available

Grants of up to $4,000 are available to rural programs to provide literacy and academic enrichment activities during the summer months. In order to be eligible for a grant, programs must meet the following criteria: operate in a rural community in Washington; meet at least 3 times a week for 4 or more weeks in the summer; provide at least 1.5 hours of literacy activities each time that the program meets; and sponsor an open site under the Summer Feeding Service Program. 

Applications for the Feed Your Brain grant must be postmarked by Friday, April 4th 2008.  Grants will be awarded in early May.

Please visit School’s Out Washington’s website for more information and to download the Feed Your Brain grant application.  If you have any questions, please contact Danielle Baer or call 206.323.2396.

2007 Feed Your Brain Grantees

The Children's Alliance, School's Out Washington and the Discuren Charitable are pleased to announce the 2008 Feed Your Brain grantees.

The grantees each received funding to add or expand literacy activites at their summer meal sites. The goals of the Feed Your Brain project are to increase participation in the summer food program and expand and enhance literacy activites for school-aged children in rural areas of Washington State.

For more information about Feed Your Brain, contact Danielle Baer at dbaer [at] schooloutswashington [dot] org or 206-323-2396.

2007 Feed Your Brain grantees
Dayton School District
East Valley School District
Entiat School District
Hoquiam School District
Look Lake School District
Mabton School District
Northwest Community Action Center (Toppenish)
Oakville School District
Rosalia Early Learning Center
SHARP Kids (Grand Coulee)
Skykomish School District
Stratton Elementary School (Newport)
Toppenish School District
Touchet School District
White Salmon School District
WSU Extension - Mason County (Shelton)
Yakama Christian Mission (White Swan)

Key Nutrition Partner Organizations

• Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition: The Coalition is staffed by the Children's Alliance. It is a statewide coalition of anti-hunger advocates, providers and state agencies. It meets quarterly to discuss public policy to reduce hunger in Washington State. For information contact the Children's Alliance Eastern Washington Director Linda Stone.
  
  
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities



• Food Research and Action Center



• America's Second Harvest



• Western Regional Anti-Hunger Consortium: The Western Region Anti-Hunger Consortium is a group of anti-hunger advocates from 10 western region states. The Consortium meets twice a year. To find out more, go to http://www.wrahc.org/.

Other Resources

• Nutrition and Food Outreach: see what nutrition resources are available to community organizations and schools.



• Household Food Security in the United States. United States Department of Agriculture. 2002.



• Consequences of Hunger and Food Insecurity for Children, Center on Hunger