The Walmart Foundation and Walmart’s Washington State Giving Council recently announced a combined $297,000 in hunger- and nutrition-oriented grants to local organizations, including the Auburn Valley YMCA.
The foundation provided $172,000, while the remaining $125,000 was given through the council.
The grants are part of a $20 million nationwide initiative that will create opportunities for 180,000 children in 350 communities to enjoy smarter, healthier and more productive summers. The grants will be used to implement programs aimed at alleviating hunger and expanding nutrition for local youth.
Locally, the foundation and council’s contributions include:
• Seattle Tilth: $50,000 to their Good Food Bag program, which targets communities in the Rainier Valley to provide education around growing, cooking and eating fresh foods. The program uses community gardens to grow food and teach children about nutrition, and then uses that fresh, healthy food for a community meal program focused on alleviating hunger.
• The United Way of King County: A $50,000 grant from Walmart’s State Giving Council will increase and expand summer meal programs and after school lunch programs for students. Both programs have been drastically cut in recent years.
• YMCA: Local chapters in Auburn, Bothell, Everett, Seattle, Tacoma, Shoreline and Spokane will use their combined $115,000 Walmart Foundation grant and $25,000 State Giving Council grants to support youth lunch programs. The local grants are part of a larger $5 million award from the Walmart Foundation to the YMCA of the USA to support the organization’s national summer feeding programs in 300 urban and rural communities.
• City of Seattle Parks and Recreation was granted $27,000 and the City of Des Moines Parks and Recreation received $30,000 from the Walmart Foundation to support their summer nutrition programs. These grants are part of a $1.5 million grant to the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), which will help fund summer feeding programs in 28 communities nationwide.
“The Y is pleased to partner with Walmart to fulfill this critical role in ensuring that local kids get the nourishment they need,” said Christi Beckley of the YMCA of Greater Seattle. “Thanks to the help from Walmart, approximately 900 kids and teens throughout the Northwest will be able to receive free meals this summer at 20 different Y sites each day.”
While most children look forward to the summer season, recent research shows that young people’s health may decline in the summer due to lower levels of physical activity and lack of access to healthy meals. It is also well-documented that children who do not engage in educational activities during the summer months experience learning loss.
Low-income children are particularly vulnerable during the summer, as they show larger losses in health and academic achievement during summer months compared to their higher income peers. For older youth, nationwide economic challenges have also severely limited summer job opportunities, which can be a source of supplemental income for families as well as skills training that will prepare future workers.
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To learn more, visit:
www.walmart.com/fightinghunger/
