Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP)
Our Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) provides Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach and application assistance in every county in the state. SNAP is our nation’s most powerful anti-hunger program. In the last year, NOEP helped more than 32,500 households successfully apply for SNAP and begin receiving benefits. Without the education and support NOEP provides, many of these households would lack awareness of their SNAP eligibility or encounter barriers that would prevent them from getting the food they need.
This year, NOEP connected 163,564 New Yorkers to SNAP education and outreach, conducted 66,985 SNAP eligibility prescreens, and helped 32,506 households successfully apply for SNAP and get the food they need.
Advocacy to Strengthen and Protect SNAP
We also continued federal advocacy to protect and strengthen SNAP. SNAP reduces hunger, lifts families out of poverty, and leads to better health, especially among children. Despite these benefits, SNAP remains vulnerable to budget cuts and harmful policy proposals. We coordinate with partners and advocates to take action to defend and improve this critical program that helps 2.8 million New Yorkers, including 851,000 children, get the food they need. As threats to SNAP continue amid federal Farm Bill negotiations, the voices of anti-hunger advocates are more important than ever.
WIC
Our WIC Help New York project connects high-risk pregnant and post-partum women, infants, and young children to WIC’s vital health and nutrition services. In the last year, we created four new social media outreach toolkits for our WIC Resource Center, launched a statewide media campaign to promote the benefits of WIC, implemented local WIC outreach in select communities, and worked to cultivate referral partnerships with service providers. These efforts contributed to a 17 percent increase in WIC participation and directly resulted in more than 9,000 referrals to WIC programs. As a result, more at-risk infants and children in our state are getting nutritious food and a healthy start with WIC.
Our outreach efforts contributed to a 17 percent increase in WIC participation and directly resulted in more than 9,000 referrals to WIC programs. As a result, more at-risk infants and children in our state are getting nutritious food and a healthy start with WIC
School Meals
School meals play a critical role in safeguarding children from hunger. Yet, too many children opt out of eating at school—despite their hunger—because of social stigma. Universal access to free school meals is the only way to eliminate stigma and ensure that no child attends school on an empty stomach. Last year, we launched a statewide campaign for universal school meals, also known as Healthy School Meals for All New York Kids. We co-led a coalition of more than 280 education, anti-hunger, health, agriculture, and nutrition-focused partner organizations. The campaign earned significant media coverage, editorial board endorsements, and broad bi-partisan support among lawmakers, leading to an unprecedented $134.6 million investment in last year’s state budget to expand free school meals.
We co-led a coalition of more than 280 education, anti-hunger, health, agriculture, and nutrition-focused partner organizations. The campaign earned significant media coverage, editorial board endorsements, and broad bi-partisan support among lawmakers, leading to an unprecedented $134.6 million investment in last year’s state budget to expand free school meals.
As a result of this historic accomplishment, over 525 schools across 200 school districts newly began offering free meals to all students at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. Over the last year, we worked on the implementation of this $134.6M expansion of free school meals by engaging stakeholders to apply for funding, assisting school districts one-on-one with the application process, and working with lawmakers to spread the word. Following a federal rule change announced in late September, an estimated 580 more schools became newly eligible to serve meals at no cost. Soon after that announcement, over 480 schools have applied to begin offering free meals for all students. After full implementation of this expansion, we project that an additional 300,000 students will gain access to school meals at no cost in the 2023-2024 school year.
While this is a huge step forward in the fight against child hunger, over 360,000 children do not have access to school meals at no cost. We will continue to urge lawmakers to close this gap. The coalition remains steadfast in its commitment to pass a permanent statewide policy that ensures all New York State students have access to school meals at no cost.
Summer Meals
The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides free meals and snacks to children and teens ages 18 and under at community locations when school is not in session. We provide tailored one-on-one assistance to schools, community organizations, and other youth service providers to maximize access to summer meals. Our statewide outreach and technical assistance for summer meals supported strong participation across the state, with over 440 sponsors approved to operate more than 2,300 meal sites in summer 2023.
Our statewide outreach and technical assistance for summer meals supported strong participation across the state, with over 440 sponsors approved to operate more than 2,300 meal sites in summer 2023.
Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
CACFP offers funding to eligible afterschool programs, child care centers, and home-based child care providers, to serve nutritious meals and snacks to children in their care. We provide afterschool programs, child care providers, and their surrounding communities with information, education, technical assistance, and resources to ensure kids have access to the nutrition they need to learn, grow, and thrive. In 2023, our CACFP outreach project contributed to a statewide increase of 27 newly approved CACFP sponsors and 137 new sites providing healthy meals for children in care.
Our CACFP outreach project contributed to a statewide increase of 27 newly approved CACFP sponsors and 137 new sites providing healthy meals for children in care in 2023.
Help Us Fight Hunger in 2024
Our distinct combination of statewide outreach and education, community-based services, and legislative and policy advocacy occupies a unique space in the anti-hunger field. Our work touches the lives of individuals, helping to put food on their tables. It also creates change on a larger scale, strengthening and expanding programs and policies that reduce hunger and improve health and well-being.
As we look to 2024, we will continue to work tirelessly to improve and expand these vital nutrition programs and put nutritious food in reach of more New Yorkers. Please consider joining us in the fight against hunger by making a generous donation today.
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