At Greensboro Elementary School in Caroline County, Maryland, a nutritious meal goes a long way.
“Caroline County is a very rural area, we’re one of the poorest counties in the state of Maryland,” said Beth Brewster, a food service supervisor for Caroline County Public Schools. “Over 14% of our residents are on the poverty level, 39% are the working poor.”
According to the USDA, one in every five children in the United States has faced hunger — that’s nearly 14 million children, an increase from a year ago. In Caroline County, this figure is just a part of everyday life.
The nonprofit No Kid Hungry aims to end childhood hunger, helping kids across the country, including those at Greensboro Elementary. The organization works with the county to provide healthy and free meal programs in the school system.
“No Kid Hungry wanted to work with Caroline County because it can be really hard for rural citizens to access things that they need because they’re so far away from them,” said Kara Panowitz, a director with No Kid Hungry Maryland.
Locals say the programs and services are making an impact.
“It’s one less thing I have to worry about as far as, oh, did they eat or not?” Christine Ludka, a working, single mom of three boys who are all students at Greensboro, tells TODAY. “It helps me financially, because breakfast is expensive.”
Caroline County is just one example of how No Kid Hungry supports kids across the country.
“I mean, we live in America, every child and every person should have healthy food to eat,” Brewster said.
Today, Citi, TODAY sponsor and leading partner of No Kid Hungry, is continuing their support on Giving Tuesday. On the charitable holiday, Citi will triple match donations to No Kid Hungry up to $500,000.
