Nurture Knowledge and Nutrition

 

The Problem:

Texas has the 2nd highest rate of “food insecurity” in the U.S. and the highest rate of child hunger in the nation—1 in 5 children go to bed hungry. 84% of DISD students qualify for free and reduced price lunches at school. Unfortunately, when the school day ends, their parents’ inability to provide nutritious meals doesn’t.

Our Unique Response:

CitySquare’s Nurture, Knowledge and Nutrition (NKN) program recognizes that addressing hunger is the most cost-effective way to help low-income families. 

  • Our Food Pantry provides nearly 2 million pounds of food to approximately 13, 500 households in our community and serves as an entry point into our Resource Center which provides a network of other services, including case management,  information and referral
  • Our after-school snack program provides over 185,000 healthy snacks to over 1,500 children in after-school programs serving low-income children in our community
  • Our Child Care Center meal program reimburses more than 12,000 meals each month to children at eight child care centers
  • Our summer food program provides over 701,000 meals, including the innovate new national model Food on the Move, an innovative new partnership with PepsiCo which deployed mobile feeding units into the neighborhoods where children live who are not involved in other summer programming—in addition to food, the kids also received 90 minutes of programming from CitySquare’s AmeriCorps team at each stop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has hailed Food on the Move “a model for the rest of the nation.”

Our Biggest Challenge:

Rising food costs. We buy food for our food pantry customers through the North Texas Food Bank. During 2010, food prices rose 55 percent.

Our Effectiveness:

Over 85% of neighbors involved in our hunger relief efforts reported that CitySquare’s food assistance has helped improve their ability to deal with a financial crisis. Our end goal is lives changed. To hear from an individual whose life was turned around from her connection with our hunger relief services, click here.

To donate to CitySquare’s Nurture, Knowledge and Nutrition programming, click here