The City of Little Rock is expanding its fight against childhood hunger with a campaign that builds off expanding afterschool and summer meals programs to reduce the food insecurity many of our local families face, thanks to a $139,500 grant and 18-months of technical assistance from the National League of Cities (NLC) and the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC).

More than 41 million Americans live in households struggling with food insecurity. The impact of everyday hunger can be long-lasting, and have negative impacts on children’s health, academic performance and eventually employment. Mayors and other city leaders have significant roles to play in ensuring that children and other vulnerable populations have access to nutritious meals.

For the past six years NLC, with the support of the Walmart Foundation, has partnered with FRAC on the CHAMPS initiative to help cities address the issue of childhood hunger by expanding participation in the federal Summer and Afterschool Meal Programs. Cities received grants and technical assistance from NLC, and the initiative has helped 71 cities feed over 140,000 children more than 12 million meals.

Despite the success of this program, NLC recognizes that there is much more that cities and city leaders can do to alleviate food insecurity in their communities. For instance, summer and afterschool meals are important but not the only federal nutrition programs that can be accessed to mitigate hunger in communities.

"With mayors at the forefront of these local anti-hunger campaigns, we know that cities can improve the health and well-being of children and families in their communities,” said Clifford M. Johnson, executive director of National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families. “The grant and technical assistance that these CHAMPS cities will receive allows them to find new ways to address hunger and brings the full force of a city, its agencies and staff, nonprofit providers, and business and community leaders at large together to make sure that children have access to the regular meals they need to grow and thrive.”

Cities can take advantage of all available federally-funded nutrition programs, including school breakfast and lunch, Afterschool and Summer Meals, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to reduce food insecurity. Fully utilizing available funding and outside support can help cities reach more children and families and bring in federal dollars to support local economies.

The funding and technical assistance provided by NLC and FRAC to the CHAMPS cohort will lead to an expansion of summer and afterschool meal sites. The initiative will also help city departments work more collaboratively, bring more willing local partners to the table and create new campaign models that other cities can replicate which will be shared via statewide convenings and by NLC.

In addition to Little Rock, the five other cities receiving grants and technical assistance from NLC and FRAC are Allentown, Pennsylvania; Durham, North Carolina; Jackson, Mississippi; Miami Gardens, Florida; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.