FoodCorps Receives Funding from the Walmart Foundation Supporting Work Toward Healthy Schools
$2.1 Million Grant Will Support Food Education and Access to Food as FoodCorps’ AmeriCorps Service Members Adapt to Student and Community Needs during the Pandemic
Contact:
Sunshine Sachs, [email protected], 201-230-6409
news.walmart.com/reporter, 800-331-0085
New York, October 19, 2020 – Today FoodCorps announced a $2.1 million grant from the Walmart Foundation to help support the nonprofit’s mission to connect students to healthy food in schools. The grant is part of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation’s goal to break down barriers to access to healthier, nutritious food.
FoodCorps has been a grantee of the Walmart Foundation since 2014, and their support has enabled FoodCorps to have greater impact at the local level and nationwide. This investment from the Walmart Foundation will assist FoodCorps in supporting school communities with culturally responsive food education and equitable access to healthier food, reaching 140,000 kids in 330+ schools in rural, urban, and Indigenous communities across 17 states. The grant will also support FoodCorps service member experience and training, teaching supplies to further enhance student learning, and the organization’s ability to adapt our programming to meet school community needs during Covid-19.
“Walmart Foundation’s continued support of FoodCorps’ work is more critical than ever,” said Curt Ellis, Co-Founder and CEO at FoodCorps. “Our partnership will bolster support for our service members on the ground who are innovating alongside their communities to ensure that healthy food and nutrition education are accessible regardless of what school looks like this year.”
Together with communities, FoodCorps connects kids to healthy food in schools so that every child — regardless of race, place, or class — gets the nourishment they need to thrive. Nine years ago, the organization set out to address a nationwide epidemic: the broken relationship between children and their food. Today, a global pandemic has made clear that school food is essential and FoodCorps service members are responding to ensure that healthy food access and education are available to all.
“With the impact of COVID-19 on school meal programs, FoodCorps’ continuing focus on helping kids thrive in and outside the classroom, virtual or in `person, is more important now than ever before,” says Eileen Hyde, director of sustainability, food systems and food access for Walmart.org. “Walmart.org is proud to support FoodCorps’ talented and diverse service members that are at the heart of partnering with local schools to make impact across the country.”
ABOUT FOODCORPS
Together with communities, FoodCorps connects kids to healthy food in school so that every child—regardless of race, place, or class—gets the nourishment they need to thrive. Our AmeriCorps leaders transform schools into places where all students learn what healthy food is, fall in love with it, and eat it every day. Building on this foundation of direct impact, FoodCorps develops leaders, forges networks, and pursues policy reforms that in time have the potential to improve all of our nation’s 100,000 schools. To learn more about FoodCorps’ work across the country, visit http://www.foodcorps.org.
ABOUT WALMART FOUNDATION
Walmart.org represents the philanthropic efforts of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. By leaning in where the business has unique strengths, Walmart.org works to tackle key social issues and collaborate with others to spark long-lasting systemic change. Walmart has stores in 27 countries, employing more than 2 million associates and doing business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. Walmart.org is helping people live better by supporting programs that work to accelerate upward job mobility for frontline workers, address hunger and make healthier, more sustainably-grown food a reality, and build strong communities where Walmart operates. To learn more, visit www.walmart.org or find us on Twitter @walmartorg.
