NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans announced today that it has been selected as an inaugural recipient of the Mayors Alliance Action Fund to End Childhood Hunger (Mayors Action Fund), a grant program of the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger. The initiative is supported by Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign and Dollar Tree and brings together collective voices and resources to end childhood hunger and strengthen family economic mobility in communities across the country.
Through this award, the City of New Orleans will receive $25,000 in grant funding to support hyper-local efforts to combat childhood hunger. Mayor Helena Moreno is an active member of the Mayors Alliance.
“I’m incredibly grateful that the Mayors Alliance selected the City of New Orleans for this inaugural grant, which will help to ensure our residents receive the vital food assistance and health care services they need,” said Mayor Helena Moreno. “By supporting this program, the Mayors Alliance Action Fund is not only bolstering the city’s efforts to fight childhood hunger; it’s helping us build bridges to other essential services. This grant reflects a shared commitment to health equity and food security, and I can’t thank Share Our Strength, Dollar Tree, and my fellow members of the Mayors Alliance enough for their support.”
Nearly 1 in 3 kids in Orleans Parish today live in families that struggle with food insecurity. They may go without food between the meals they get at school, or their parents may skip meals so their kids can be nourished. When our children are fueled by healthy, consistent nutrition, we are not simply feeding children; we are supporting the brightest minds and best talents that will shape the future that we all share.
The Mayors Alliance taps into the individual and collective leadership of over 550 mayors to take meaningful actions to end childhood hunger in cities nationwide. The Mayors Action Fund is in its inaugural year. Generously supported by Dollar Tree, the Fund is being launched to support initiatives in mayors’ communities that they feel are most important to their efforts to end child hunger.
“At Dollar Tree, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to thrive, and that begins with reliable access to nutritious food,” said Jennifer Silberman, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer at Dollar Tree. “We’re proud to support the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger and to help launch the inaugural Mayors Action Fund, which empowers mayors across the country to take bold, local action against hunger. Through our partnership with the Mayors Alliance and Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, we are working to build more resilient, equitable communities — one meal, one city, and one child at a time.”
Mayor Moreno’s plans for use of the grant funds include a comprehensive outreach and marketing campaign. The New Orleans Health and Human Services (NOHHS), in partnership with VIA LINK, will improve the visibility and accessibility of SNAP, WIC, and Medicaid application assistance services offered at clinical and community-based service sites across the city.
“At a time of mounting food costs and economic uncertainty for families, the Mayors Action Fund is a vital investment in local, community-driven solutions,” said Aaron Goldstein, senior manager of Local Government Relations at Share Our Strength. “By supporting the work of visionary mayors like Helena Moreno, these grants are another tool to help families and children access the resources they need to thrive.”
To find out more about what the NOHHS is doing to end food insecurity, please visit, nola.gov/health .