Feed the Children Launches Center for Children & Social Engagement to Improve Global Food Security and Child Nutrition

NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Feed the Children, a leading anti-hunger organization, today launched the Center for Children & Social Engagement. Located in New York City, the Center's mission is to identify, document and help scale up cost-effective, replicable program models and policies for improving food security and child nutrition in the United States and around the world.

"Feed the Children developed the Center for Children & Social Engagement to create and identify those food security and child nutrition program models and policies capable of ending child hunger," said Kevin Hagan, President and CEO of Feed the Children. "To make this happen, the Center will bring together domestic and international program implementers, academic institutions and businesses."

The Center will be run by program staff based in New York, N.Y., and Washington, D.C., including seasoned Senior Fellows from major universities with a background in food security, nutrition and other areas of child welfare; postgraduate fellows; and interns. The Center will focus on finding the "bright spots" – smaller and lesser-known innovative models and policies that can help end child hunger. A "Bright Spot Awards" competition is being created to help elevate the most promising models and support their refinement and scaling. In addition, it will advocate for public and private funding to support the development of innovative program models and policies.

"We have identified a small number of program models and policies making a difference in improving food security and child nutrition at a low cost, and we are convinced there are many more out there just waiting to be discovered," said Feed the Children's Chief Program Officer Tom Davis, MPH. "The Center's 'Bright Spot Awards' will help identify these successful programs, bring them to light and stimulate their growth."

An online journal, The Child in Community, will be published by the Center to inform a wide audience about the most innovative and promising award nominees. Also, the Center will host a biennial event called the Development Marketplace for Food Security and Child Nutrition to provide a forum for domestic and international practitioners to present their entries.

Approximately 10 "Bright Spot Awards" will be awarded every two years. Winners will receive a cash prize and receive other assistance from the Center to help document and scale up their program model.  Feed the Children will also help awardees with fundraising and link them to other innovative practitioners and interested donors.

The development of the Center aligns with Feed the Children's recent commitment to unite with like-minded organizations to defeat the status quo of hunger. Through this commitment, Feed the Children has challenged conventional anti-hunger initiatives to share best practices with peers and launch higher-risk pilot programs to find the most effective solutions to hunger – all with the goal of ending childhood hunger and helping kids be kids.

More information on Feed the Children can be found by visiting www.feedthechildren.org, in addition to www.facebook.com/feedthechildren and @feedthechildren.

ABOUT FEED THE CHILDREN
Feed the Children is one of the world's leading anti-hunger organizations, dedicated to creating a world where no child goes to bed hungry. Since 1979, Feed the Children has grown into one of the largest U.S. based charities, accredited by GuideStar Exchange, the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. By banding together with partners, donors and communities to defeat hunger, Feed the Children distributed over $344 million in food, essentials, educational supplies and medicine to over 10 million individuals in the United States and 18 other countries in fiscal year 2013. Visit www.feedthechildren.org for more information.

SOURCE Feed the Children

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