This week, No Kid Hungry celebrated its second annual National Youth Day to honor young people and their contributions to solving the critical problems our country faces.
The day was founded and organized by the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation and Generation No Kid Hungry, a national movement of young leaders dedicated to ending childhood hunger.
While we celebrate these young leaders, a recent federal Government Accountability Office report indicates that many college students themselves are experiencing food insecurity at a growing rate.
Here’s a roundup of how young people across the U.S. are addressing hunger on their campuses.
- CWU part of PUSH to solve hunger (Washington): Central Washington University is part of Presidents United to Solve Hunger, a worldwide organization fighting student hunger. Several campus food pantries are part of the initiative and many volunteer members and leaders are nutrition majors who use their knowledge when making food purchases for the pantries.
- UM unveils new resource to combat student hunger (Montana): University of Montana students launched the UM Food Pantry on campus in partnership with the Missoula Food Bank, Montana Food Bank Network, the Missoula Chamber of Commerce, Blackfoot, Missoula Federal Credit Union, and other community organizations. Students groups and Greek life organizations are also running donation drives in support of the pantry.
- College students combat hunger with student kitchens (California): The R’Pantry campus food pantry and the Swipe Out Hunger student organization have joined forces on a new project called the Student Kitchen. It’s designed to not only feed food-insecure students but also help them learn the skills they’ll need to cook for themselves and maintain a healthy diet during and after college.
- Kent State community fights back against hunger (Ohio): Kent State’s Campus Kitchen is a student-run kitchen that donates meals to the community. It works closely with another on-campus organization, Flashes Fighting Hunger, which is dedicated to finding ways to fight food insecurity on campus.
- Tuition or meals? MN college students fight food insecurity (Minnesota): LeadMN: College Students Connecting for Change is a student-run advocacy group representing two-year college kids across Minnesota. Its leaders represent two separate technical schools and community colleges who have food pantries on campus for students living with food insecurity.
These individuals are among many young leaders working hard to solve the challenges in their communities and across the country. Leadership, drive and determination like this means that this is the generation that can end childhood hunger.
