Chickasaw Nation Works with Feed the Children to Reduce Child Hunger
OKLAHOMA CITY, March 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- National Nutrition Month in the Chickasaw Nation is starting with a celebration. Yesterday the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded a grant to the Chickasaw Nation for a demonstration project designed to sharply reduce the incidence of hunger among children.
This innovative program will create an experience similar to online grocery shopping, where families visit a website to order nutritious food items which will be delivered directly to their homes. Feed the Children will be delivering the food directly to homes of participants.
Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby said the Chickasaw Nation is passionate about fighting childhood hunger.
"We hope our collaboration with Feed the Children on this innovative new program will be a significant step forward in the fight against childhood hunger," said Gov. Anoatubby. "We believe it is vital we continue to develop new strategies and methods to work toward our goal of ending childhood hunger in America. Working together through innovative programs such as this, we can help ensure many more children have the nutrition they need to grow into successful adults."
Participating families will also receive a benefit check to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at authorized grocery stores within the Chickasaw Nation.
"We are very pleased to be working with Feed the Children on this project," said Dr. Judy Goforth Parker, Chickasaw Nation Secretary of Health. "They are great partners because the expertise and economies of scale they bring to the project will enable us to provide even more food to participating families."
The total number of eligible students within the demonstration's 18 targeted school districts is estimated at nearly 9,000, and at least half of the students, or approximately 2,600 households, are expected to participate.
Pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade students eligible for free school meals in participating school districts are eligible for the program.
This grant is part of $27 million in funding made possible by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) and announced yesterday. HHFKA requires that at least one project be carried out on an Indian reservation serving a rural area with a diabetes incidence rate of 15 percent or more. Other projects will be tested in Kentucky, Nevada, and Virginia, as well as the Navajo Nation.
Feed the Children's Domestic Program Team worked with the Chickasaw Nation to develop the proposal and the underlying project, named the Chickasaw Nation Nutrition Services Demonstration Project to End Childhood Hunger. The program will provide food through home delivery to households with children in 18 targeted school districts who qualify for free school meals.
"We're excited to partner on this pioneering service and delivery model aimed at increasing food access, food security and diet quality for children pre-K through 12th grade," said Kevin Hagan, president and CEO of Feed the Children. "In the U.S., we have the resources to ensure that every child has the nutritious food they need, but we must better leverage the infrastructure, resources and technology available by working together on the federal and local level to ensure no child goes to bed hungry."
About the Chickasaw Nation
With more than 59,000 citizens, the Chickasaw Nation is the 12th largest federally-recognized Indian tribe in the United States. The Chickasaw Nation had an economic impact of more than $2.4 billion in Oklahoma in 2011. The tribe is the seventh largest employer in Oklahoma, with more than 10,000 employees in the state and more than 12,500 worldwide. A democratic republic with executive, legislative and judicial departments, the tribe's jurisdictional territory includes all or part of 13 counties in south central Oklahoma.
About Feed the Children
Founded in 1979, Feed the Children is one of the largest charities based in the U.S., with the mission of providing hope and resources for those without life's essentials. Feed the Children is accredited by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. Using an integrated approach to defeat hunger, Feed the Children distributed over $344 million in food, essentials and medicine to over 10 million individuals in the United States, and 23 other countries in fiscal year 2013. For more information, visit www.feedthechildren.org.
SOURCE Feed the Children
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