 Today, a hidden but solvable crisis exists in America.

One in every
five children in the United States is at the risk of hunger. But children
don't suffer from hunger because we lack food. As a nation, we have
plenty.
 The problem is barriers that keep many children from accessing these
food. This is Lily and her mom. Lily's mom works overtime to provide
for Lily's needs.
 But by the end of the month, she can't provide Lily with nutritious
meals. This makes it harder for Lily to focus in school and succeed in
the classroom. But this is not just Lily's crisis.
 It's yours, too. That's right. With more than 17 million families facing
hunger in the U.S, there are millions of children struggling in schools.
Children who don't receive proper nutrition are more susceptible to
obesity and disease.
 It turns out hunger is a national health issue as well. These factors
snowball and have an enormous impact on our economy. Billions of
dollars are lost every year, paying for ill effects of hunger.
 Hunger is also an economic issue. We call this a hunger triad,
affecting our most vulnerable citizens, our children, and with the
resources needed to solve it right in front of us, it seems so simple.
 Yet, we found no one group was connecting the dots. Though
community programs were in place, they weren't reaching all the
people who needed it.
 Community leaders and organizations didn't know funding was
available to reach more children, and the people who needed the food
didn't know how to access it.
 So Share Our Strength developed a ground-breaking strategy to
make sure food reaches children where they live, learn, and play.
Here's how the No Kid Hungry strategy works.
 We rally government leaders, private companies, and local nonprofits
and together we craft innovative plans to connect at risk kids with
the food they need.
 So, how does this strategy affect a girl like Lily? Now, Lily receives
breakfast at school, helping her focus in class. Lily’s mom receives
food assistant funds made more accessible by Share Our Strength,
enabling Lily’s mom to feed her all mouth.
 Through Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters Program, Lily’s mom
learns how to buy and cook nutritious food on a budget. And when
summer comes and school’s out, a Summer Meals Program is
available for Lily and her friends.
 And the hunger triad disappears. And our nation grows healthier. We
can eradicate childhood hunger in America. No kid hungry. But we
need your help to get there.
 Let’s solve this crisis together as a nation and eradicate childhood
hunger. Take the No Kid Hungry pledge and join us.
 When you do, you will join a community of No Kid Hungry
advocates and begin receiving actions big and small that you can
take to help us achieve our goal of ending childhood hunger.
 Let’s end childhood hunger together. Take the pledge.