Project Bread
What is Project Bread?
Project Bread - The Walk for Hunger is the state's leading anti-hunger organization, dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts. We advocate systemic solutions that prevent hunger in children and that provide food to families in natural, everyday settings. Over the past few years, we've invested $1.5 million in grants to community organizations that feed children. We also provide millions of dollars each year to 400 emergency food programs in 136 communities statewide through our signature event, The Walk for Hunger, which is the oldest continual pledge walk in the country.
How does Project Bread address child hunger?
In 1998, Project Bread launched the Massachusetts Child Hunger Initiative (MCHI) to end child hunger in the Commonwealth. MCHI works closely with the leadership of the 20 towns hardest hit by hunger - the largest of which is Boston. The concept behind MCHI is simple. Children should receive nutritious food where they live, learn, and play. The goal is to make hunger prevention seamless, invisible, and a regular part of a child's day.
In addition to school meals, how does Project Bread feed children where they live, learn, and play?
At home, Project Bread is a strong advocate of food stamp participation for families with children. Many families have no idea they are eligible for this nutritional support. That's why, we've developed an online food stamp application that guides them through the process, saving time and making the experience more dignified and efficient.
As many educators know, playing is a form of learning. For this reason, Project Bread has always supported federal after-school nutrition programs that give children healthy snacks. Because many low-income children will go from school lunch to a small dinner - or no dinner at all - there is a real need to support them with after-school nutrition.
During the summer months, Project Bread strives to combine food with fun. We do this in a variety of ways: by providing incentive grants that allow the program director to add a healthy meal to an existing recreational program and by encouraging them to grow or develop new sites so that more children can participate.
Why does Project Bread fund these programs?
Unfortunately, many children who receive school meals do not participate in summer federal meal programs. Children are often scattered over the summer months and will not visit a site simply to get lunch. Project Bread realized that children need an incentive to attend the summer programs, like new books, recreational activities, and computers. Our grants allow these programs to offer more than a meal and, in so doing, to attract more children.
After-school snack programs do not always have the ability to provide healthy snacks because they lack the proper equipment. Instead, children are left to feed themselves out of vending machines - where they are unlikely to find anything of nutritional value. Project Bread provides start-up grants to help after-school programs purchase the necessary equipment to add a healthy, good snack to the child's day. The funding Project Bread offers these programs comes from private donations, foundation grants and settlement grants.
What partnerships help advance these programs?
Project Bread relies on a number of key partners to make food accessible to children who would have otherwise gone hungry. First and foremost is Mayor Thomas M. Menino who is a great friend to our organization and committed to ending hunger in the City of Boston. Other vital partnerships include: the United States Department of Agriculture; the Massachusetts Department of Education; the Boston Public Schools; and Boston Centers for Youth & Families. We also work closely with elected officials and community leaders who have front-line knowledge of what the children in their communities need.
How have these programs impacted the City of Boston?
In past years, Project Bread gave $25,000 in after-school snack grants to five different Boston locations: Boston Youth Network, Orient Heights Community Center, Harborside Community Center, YMCA of Greater Boston - East Boston site, and the Harborside Adult Learning Program.
This past summer, Project Bread gave $53,284 in incentive grants to eight organizations in Boston: St. James Educational Center, Simmons College, Boston Centers for Youth & Families, Grove Hall Resident Association, Women Express Inc. - Teen Voices, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, Harborside Community Center, and the YMCA of Greater Boston - East Boston.
What is Project Bread's hope for the future of out-of-school programming?
Through research, Project Bread has found that poor nutrition leads to poor health, behavioral problems, and developmental delays. We also know that the best way to end child hunger is to prevent it. For this reason, Project Bread is committed to increasing participation in summer food programs and after-school snack programs, as well as increasing the number of meal sites available to low-income children. Although great strides have been made, there is still work to be done to provide adequate nutritious food for children when they are not in school. With continued help from community leaders and elected officials, Project Bread hopes to make significant progress in the fight against child hunger.