Hard-working American families rely on critical federal nutrition programs — our friends, our neighbors, even our nation’s military heroes. Stacy is a nursing student and mom of two daughters, living in Colorado. Her husband Erik has been deployed twice by the Army, earning a Purple Heart in Afghanistan. Both parents juggle work and going back to school. Money is tight, and trying to plan healthy meals that fit into their family’s budget can sometimes feel overwhelming to Stacy.
No Kid Hungry partners with community groups across the country to provide Cooking Matters classes to low-income families in venues that are convenient and familiar to them. We help families make the most of their SNAP dollars. Class participants learn to stretch their food budgets and cook healthy food for their families. Stacy learned that Cooking Matters was offered at her local Head Start center, so she signed up.
“I learned quite a few new things,” Stacy shares, “like unit pricing, that I didn’t really look for before.”
Now Stacy buys in bulk and freezes what she’s not going to use right away. She learned to carefully plans their grocery shopping trips to make the most of their hard earned money. The class has taught her skills to cook healthier and save money.
“Not only am I cooking healthier, better meals, but I am saving a lot more money,” she says.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) is an important federal program that helps low-income families across the country put food on the table. Nearly half of all SNAP recipients are children, making the program the first line of defense in the battle against childhood hunger. The program is a critical lifeline for families who have fallen on hard times, helping them to get back on their feet. No Kid Hungry can teach families how to make the most of their SNAP dollars, but we need you to help us protect the SNAP program.
