Child Nutrition Programs
In Alabama, almost 250,000 children experience food insecurity. That means 1 in 5 children experience hunger everyday. Feeding Alabama and our eight food bank members deploy an array of programs to assist children and families in need of food support. These programs support children and ensure they have access to nutritious meals during the summer, at the end of the school day, on weekends, and during holidays.
When school is not in session during the school year and summer, we operate the Summer Feeding Program and support Afterschool Meals Program. Both of these programs give children access to nutritious meals and snacks in a safe, supervised environment where children can engage in enjoyable activities and enrichment. If you are interested in learning more about either of these programs or becoming a partner in these programs, please visit our program pages.
Backpack food programs are another offering of our food banks for children to limit hunger over the weekends and school breaks. Backpacks include healthy, easy-to-prepare food for kid-friendly meals. That way, kids return to school on Monday, ready to learn. The food banks partner with schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, and community centers to distribute backpacks to kids throughout the year.
School Pantry Programs, another innovative approach, help alleviate child hunger by distributing food to children and their families near or in a school setting. By working with community partners, food banks and school administrators set up on-site food pantries, that are convenient for students and their families to access throughout the school year and during school breaks. By locating pantries inside or near schools, students and their families have easier access to food assistance and feel more comfortable in accessing this assistance. In addition to receiving food items through the School Pantry Program, children and their families may also receive recipe cards, on-site cooking demonstrations led by community partners, along with other additional resources the food bank and/or school may provide.
Feeding Alabama brings awareness to these programs and food insecurity throughout the state by serving as a member of Governor Kay Ivey’s End Child Hunger in Alabama task force. As a member of the task force, we work to decrease child hunger by providing access to important programs and services and advocating for children and families. We also bring awareness to college hunger by serving on the task force’s college hunger coalition.
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
- mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or - fax:
(833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or - email:
[email protected]
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Para todos los demás programas de asistencia de nutrición del FNS, agencias estatales o locales y sus subreceptores, deben publicar la siguiente Declaración de No Discriminación: De acuerdo con la ley federal de derechos civiles y las normas y políticas de derechos civiles del Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (USDA), esta entidad está prohibida de discriminar por motivos de raza, color, origen nacional, sexo (incluyendo identidad de género y orientación sexual), discapacidad, edad, o represalia o retorsión por actividades previas de derechos civiles. La información sobre el programa puede estar disponible en otros idiomas que no sean el inglés. Las personas con discapacidades que requieren medios alternos de comunicación para obtener la información del programa (por ejemplo, Braille, letra grande, cinta de audio, lenguaje de señas americano (ASL), etc.) deben comunicarse con la agencia local o estatal responsable de administrar el programa o con el Centro TARGET del USDA al (202) 720-2600 (voz y TTY) o comuníquese con el USDA a través del Servicio Federal de Retransmisión al (800) 877-8339. Para presentar una queja por discriminación en el programa, el reclamante debe llenar un formulario AD-3027, formulario de queja por discriminación en el programa del USDA, el cual puede obtenerse en línea en: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027s.pdf, de cualquier oficina de USDA, llamando al (866) 632-9992, o escribiendo una carta dirigida a USDA. La carta debe contener el nombre del demandante, la dirección, el número de teléfono y una descripción escrita de la acción discriminatoria alegada con suficiente detalle para informar al Subsecretario de Derechos Civiles (ASCR) sobre la naturaleza y fecha de una presunta violación de derechos civiles. El formulario AD-3027 completado o la carta debe presentarse a USDA por: (1) (2) (3) correo: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; o fax: (833) 256-1665 o (202) 690-7442; o correo electrónico: [email protected] Esta institución es un proveedor que ofrece igualdad de oportunidades.