Carolina Hunger Initiative

Carolina Hunger Initiative is a new part of UNC’s Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, continuing the work on child hunger projects that our team members have been doing at the Center since 2014. 

Nutrition is essential for academic success and helps ensure brighter futures. With all of the ways that children’s lives have been disrupted during the past few years, it’s more important than ever to make sure they have consistent access to healthy meals. Nutrition professionals working to feed kids in schools, community centers, and food banks need support, too. Supply chain disruptions, staffing challenges, and pandemic uncertainties have made their work more difficult than ever. 

That’s why Carolina Hunger Initiative is working statewide, in all 100 counties, to improve access to nutritious food year-round. Since NC schools first closed because of COVID-19 in March 2020, our work has included: 

• Connecting almost 13,000 rural NC kids with 1.6 million meals shipped directly to their homes. 

• Distributing grant funds to 24 school districts in support of flexible ways to reach children with healthy meals. 
• Working with rural NC counties to revamp messaging about free summer meals for kids while school is out. 
• Expanding access to nutrition education with our virtual Cooking Matters series. 

Thank you for helping to sustain our work. Your support means we can continue to create a future where no child goes hungry in our state. 

Take a moment to see highlights from our annual NC Child Hunger Leaders Conference. 

Learn more about Carolina Hunger Initiative and the work we do at CarolinaHungerInitiative.org.