Lofty Goals + Clear Next Steps = Unprecedented Results
Posted by Katherine Van Steenburgh on Monday, August 1, 2011
Editor’s Note: All summer, Share Our Strength staff will be visiting summer meals sites across the country to show our work in action. This post is part of that series. To learn more about Summer Meals, visit strength.org/summer.
It is a lofty dream to think that a group of individuals could end childhood hunger in a state or in a nation or in the world. And sometimes, the grandeur of this goal can be overwhelming. However, on our recent visit to Little Rock, the massive vision of ending childhood hunger seemed to shift into grasp as the group was charged with three tangible action items that (if taken) will result in significant change for the children of Arkansas.
At the end of every Hinges of Hope tour — the experiential learning tours that introduce public and private leaders to community organizations addressing hunger and poverty in their neighborhoods — the group gathers to debrief on the day and share reflections. Last week in Arkansas, several members of the delegation stood up and shared what they learned by visiting local community sites throughout the day. There was one set of remarks made during the debrief that I have shared with the Share Our Strength staff over and over again since last week.
During the debrief, Jack Sinclair, the Executive Vice President of Food for Walmart in the U.S., encouraged our delegation to focus on three specific things in Arkansas in order to increase the number of kids being feed in the state. I think I have carried these remarks with me since the trip because they are a reminder that our lofty goals are achievable with clear next steps and leaders (like those on the Hinges tour) who are committed to seeing those steps through.
Here are the things Jack Sinclair encouraged our group to focus on in Arkansas:
Transportation: We heard over and over again on the Hinges tour that a barrier to feeding more kids in the state of Arkansas is transportation. Sites need more vehicles to pick up kids and to deliver meals in the communities. Sites also need more funds to pay for the rising gas costs. This is definitely an obstacle, but I think a surmountable one with the right leadership and will.
Thirteen counties in Arkansas don’t have any summer meal sites. The No Kid Hungry Campaign and Curtis Curry, from the department of Human Services in Little Rock, are committed to reaching the 13 counties in Arkansas that don’t have summer meal sites. You can see a large version of a map showing these counties below.
Increasing SNAP outreach: There are 154,000 people in the state of Arkansas who are potentially eligible for SNAP and are not participating. If all of those individuals enrolled in SANP that would result in $67,993,920 additional funding would be brought into Arkansas. And that would generate approximately $122,389,050.00 of local economic activity. The Hunger Relief Alliance reports less than 30 percent of those who get help from food banks receive benefits from SNAP. We need to enroll more eligible individuals in SNAP and not only will that feed more children but it will help Arkansas’ economy.
Here’s a larger version of the map that shows the meals gap in Arkansas.
The problems we face in this world, like childhood hunger, can (at first glance) seem insurmountable, but as Jack helped us see in Arkansas, if you look more closely at the intricacies of the issue you can identify practical next steps that will yield real progress.
RELATED LINKS:
— Learn more about Share Our Strength’s Summer Meals work
— Help Support Summer Meals Work
August 1, 2011 | 0 comment(s) | Tags: arkansas, no kid hungry, summer
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