2020: The Hunger Challenge

Mary’s Meals is a global movement that sets up school feeding projects in some of the world’s poorest communities, where poverty and hunger prevent children from gaining an education. Mary’s Meals provides one daily meal in a place of learning and is currently feeding 1,425,013 hungry children every school day across five continents.

Students’ efforts through the Hunger Challenge will support the expansion of school-based feeding programs in Malawi and India will allow 10,256 children to receive a meal every school day in their place of education for an entire school year.

Haiti Hunger Project: This gift to Mary’s Meals will support the expansion of school-based feeding programs in Haiti to feed another 14,285 vulnerable children in their place of education for an entire school year.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization by providing health care and immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more.

Students’ efforts through the Hunger Challenge will support 15,767 children under five with nutrition and micronutrient interventions in Yemen and Ethiopia where there are significant hunger-related challenges including severe acute malnutrition.

Founded in 1998, Global Nomads Group (GNG) is an international NGO whose mission is to foster intercultural dialogue and understanding among the world’s youth.

As our long-term partner, GNG helps enrich the learning by connecting students throughout the Challenge using technology and storytelling to create videos, lesson plans, and webcasts during the school year.

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Founded over 100 years ago, they’ve changed the lives of over 1 billion children. In the United States and around the world, they give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. They do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

COVID-19 Response: As schools remain closed due to COVID-19, we’re working to ensure children in some of the poorest communities across rural America continue to learn, get the nutrition they need and have the emotional support that’s so important right now.

No Kid Hungry is a national campaign run by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit working to solve problems of hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world. In America today, 1 in 7 kids face hunger. Working with local partners across the country, No Kid Hungry is ending childhood hunger by ensuring that kids get the food they need.

Student efforts through the World Needs Challenge will support an estimated 3,750,000 meals for children and their families globally. In addition, 30 to 50 Youth Ambassadors will be supported to serve community organizations increasing their capacity to serve children and families.

CREOLE, Inc. is focused on people and job creation through agriculture in northern Haiti. Their initiatives include terracing mountains, large scale gardening, tilapia farming, coffee production, and more. Their goal is to see people flourish as jobs are created, food is grown, and land is restored. CREOLE, Inc. is animated by the belief that if anyone can feed Haiti, Haiti can.

Haiti Hunger Project: CREOLE, Inc. will expand its work to take on malnutrition and hunger in northern Haiti. This investment will enable them to work with partners to create terraces to stabilize mountain slopes and plant them with nutritious fruits and vegetables. Students ages 12-17, will join them as they start and transplant fruit trees on the terraced mountainside for their community.

Grow Dat Youth Farm’s mission is to nurture a diverse group of young leaders through the meaningful work of growing food. On their farm people work collaboratively to grow food, educate and inspire youth and adults, and build power to create personal, social and environmental change.

Students’ efforts through the Hunger Challenge will support Grow Dat’s core leadership program for young leaders on their farm to learn about sustainable agriculture, community leadership, food systems, and food justice.

COVID-19 Response: Grow Dat Youth Farm will continue to provide fresh produce to hundreds of families in New Orleans and keep their staff, who are essential workers employed. They also will continue to support their youth leaders who are learning and growing from home.

HAPPY is a youth-founded and led organization that promotes youth empowerment through holistic education. Happy initiatives currently include plant-based nutrition/culinary summer camps, and school visits & tours.

Students’ efforts through the Hunger Challenge will support the launch of the HAPPY Virtual Academy which will make accessible and take to scale the developed content (recipes and lessons) that HAPPY has cultivated over the years making them accessible to students and families everywhere.

Harlem Grown inspires youth to lead healthy and ambitious lives through mentorship and hands-on education in urban farming, sustainability, and nutrition. Founded in 2011, Harlem Grown operates local urban farms, increases access to and knowledge of healthy food for Harlem residents, and provides garden-based development programs to Harlem youth.

Students’ efforts through the Hunger Challenge will extend farming and nutrition-based education and food access programming to Harlem Grown's newly opened Impact Farm, a two-story hydroponic greenhouse.

COVID-19 Response: To help alleviate COVID-19 related economic distress, Harlem Grown’s food-focused work continues with the high-need program ‘HG Meals’ as they partner with local restaurants to provide hot, nutritious meals to youth, families, and community members living in shelters throughout Harlem.

The Intertribal Agriculture Council was founded in 1987 to pursue and promote the conservation, development, and use of our agricultural resources for the betterment of Native American people nationwide.

Students’ efforts through the Hunger Challenge will make investments in Native American youth interested in building careers in food and agriculture by supporting their participation in high-impact professional development events hosted by IAC in partnership with Native Youth Food Sovereignty Alliance and other partner organizations.

The Kohala Center is an independent, community-based center for research, conservation, and education programming. Their main areas of focus are food, water, place, and people.

Students’ efforts through the Hunger Challenge will support the Ōhāhā High School Agricultural Program by teaching primarily Native Hawaiian youth traditional agricultural practice and related career pathways. This program also intentionally builds on the foundations of Hawaiian identity and serves the needs of Hawai’i’s rural communities.

Living Classrooms Foundation strengthens communities and inspires people to achieve their potential through hands-on education and job training, using urban, natural, and maritime resources as “living classrooms” in the Baltimore and Washington, DC area.

Students’ efforts through the Hunger Challenge will continue and expand Power Up; a new POWER House initiative that addresses childrens’ before school nutritional needs, helps them start the day ready to learn, and helps build relationships with parents/guardians.

La Semilla Food Center's mission is to foster a healthy, self-reliant, sustainable, localized food system in the Paso del Norte region of southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas.

Students’ efforts through the Hunger Challenge will support Raíces de Tradicion y Salud (Raíces), their flagship Community Education program offering local youth farm-based production and food systems education from predominantly Latino colonia communities’ in Southern New Mexico.

Soul Fire Farm is a BIPOC-centered community farm committed to ending racism and injustice in the food system. They are training the next generation of activist-farmers and strengthening the movements for food sovereignty and community self-determination.

Students’ efforts through the Hunger Challenge will support Soul Fire Farm’s “To free ourselves we must feed ourselves” program by supporting new young farmers through intensive training and mentoring. Funds will also support the weekly doorstep delivery of naturally grown food to families.

COVID-19 Response: “To Free Ourselves We Must Feed Ourselves!”: In light of the pandemic, it is even more essential that we grow our own food and medicine towards self-reliance and community resilience. Soul Fire Farm is providing materials, labor, and technical assistance to support ~40 families with their home gardens. SFF also delivers no-cost vegetables, fruits, medicine, and pastured protein to our neighbors who need it most.