This February, 26 Nebraska schools volunteered to compete in the Nebraska School Breakfast Challenge 2024 hosted by Nebraska SNAC, No Kid Hungry, and the Nebraska Department of Education! This challenge asked participating schools to create more accessible, engaging, and nourishing breakfast experiences for students. Schools earned points for things like piloting an alternative breakfast model (such as Grab and Go), marketing their programs to students in new ways, inviting local elected officials or community leaders to breakfast, and more. Top point earners in categories of >600 stude ..read more

Nebraska Summer Meals for Kids: Help Fight Child Hunger in your Community Join Nebraska Appleseed, the Nebraska Department of Education, and Fairbury Public Schools for a webinar to learn more about how Summer meals can prevent child hunger in your community! The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides children a way to get free meals over the summer when school is out. Over 58 communities already participate but more are eligible! Join this webinar to learn more about child hunger in your community and how the SFSP can make a difference. This webinar will include data on child hunger in ..read more

Celebrate National School Breakfast Week with Go Big Breakfast & No Kid Hungry Nebraska! Happy National School Breakfast Week! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and critical in ensuring kids have the nutrition they need to learn and grow. This year, we’re celebrating #NSBW23 by highlighting how school breakfast changes lives, and the school nutrition professionals at the heart of it.  By feeding kids a healthy school breakfast, schools are providing the foundation for kids to succeed. School breakfast is intertwined with student success. Studies show that kids who eat ..read more

“None of us really knew what to expect from the coronavirus. We just tried to put in the best procedures we could to hand out meals but it was scary to be the ones out there. We know we're reaching kids that if we didn't offer our program, they would not have a meal from when they ate at lunch until breakfast the next day at school.” Jodi Erickson Director of Nutrition Services at Crete Public Schools Author: Jason Ezell, Nebraska SNAC Intern Nearly two years have passed since the COVID pandemic hit. In 2020, school nutrition staff stepped up to serve thousands of remote meals t ..read more

School Nutrition Staff Making a Difference When our communities needed them more than ever, school nutrition departments across the state stepped up in incredible ways to support all students – whether learning in the school building or virtually/remotely. Because of them, thousands of kids throughout Nebraska have remained nourished during the crisis. The pandemic has upended school meal programs as we know them. As schools have had to adjust to remote learning, hybrid models, and or changes within the building to keep students and staff safe, school nutrition departments have worked qui ..read more

Across Nebraska, children are benefiting from school nutrition professionals’ hard work to expand food access for students. During this National School Lunch week (October 12-16), we are thrilled to highlight Nebraska school nutrition heroes who have taken exciting steps to support food access in schools. Find innovative solutions to meal service and heroic efforts from lunch rooms and remote distribution sites in the latest blog by our partner, Nebraska Appleseed: READ MORE ..read more

Before the pandemic, summer was already a hard time for families struggling to feed their kids, with schools closed and school meals gone. This year, schools closed in March, leaving many children without reliable daily meals for months on end. In the wake of COVID-19, more American families are waiting in line at food banks and rationing meals for their kids. With schools now closed for months, this has been the longest summer for kids facing hunger.  No Kid Hungry recently released The Longest Summer: Childhood Hunger in the Wake of the Coronavirus,  a new research-driven report t ..read more

Yesterday Senate Republicans released a draft of the new COVID-19 relief package, the HEALS Act. No Kid Hungry is deeply disappointed to report that the proposal fails to include policies that would strengthen the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or extend and expand Pandemic EBT, programs that are essential to safe-guarding low-income families and children from hunger. This is unacceptable. These programs, which help parents purchase the food their children need, are mission-critical in providing relief to hungry children and their families. Congress must not adjourn without s ..read more

SNAP is one of the most effective tools to fight child hunger. It’s so important that we are declaring Wednesday, June 24 a national Day of Action on SNAP. The goal? To rally the nation to demand relief for hungry kids and families. This is a day to join our collective voices online to advocate to our leaders that #SNAPFeedsKids. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of families have been pushed into unemployment, financial strain, poverty and hunger. SNAP can make sure that families have sufficient resources to safely feed themselves, but we need stronger benefits that can be used ..read more

The coronavirus pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on families throughout the country. In Nebraska, school closures mean that the over 150,000 kids who rely on school meals are at risk for going without the food they’ve depended on during the school year.  When their communities needed them more than ever, schools, food banks, pantries and community organizations all across the state stepped up in incredible ways. Because of them, kids throughout Nebraska have remained nourished during the crisis.  These frontline hunger heroes – school nutrition and transportation professional ..read more