Draft:Children’s Hunger Alliance

• Comment: We require secondary sources. Qcne (talk) 19:39, 14 December 2023 (UTC)

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Children's Hunger Alliance

Children's Hunger Alliance

Founded	February 1970 (1970-02) in Columbus, Ohio, USA (as Ohio Hunger Task Force)
Founder	Marion Wearly
Headquarters	1105 Schrock Road, Suite 505 Columbus OH 43229
Number of locations	5 locations
Area served	Ohio, United States
Key people	Michelle Moskowitz Brown (President & CEO)
Revenue	Revenue US $15,414,000 (2021) Expenses US $14,348,000 (2021)
Net income	US $1,066,000 (2021)
Number of employees	50+
Website	https://childrenshungeralliance.org/

Children’s Hunger Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in the state of Ohio.

They collaborate with organizations throughout Ohio to provide nutritious meals to food insecure children who need them most. CHA partners with in-home childcare providers, childcare centers, afterschool and summer programs to provide balanced, healthy meals to children in their care. Additionally, they work with schools to increase breakfast participation and provide weekend meals to students. Their team of educators also deliver nutrition education and lead children in physical activities to provide a balanced approach to childhood health.

CHA's headquarters is in Columbus, Ohio with regional offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo.

They are the largest No Kid Hungry partner in Ohio (Share Our Strength), a subsidiary of Feeding America.

Locations

• Columbus Office
• Cincinnati
• Cleveland Office
• Toledo
• Columbus Warehouse

History

In February of 1970, Marion Wearly leased a room from the Columbus YWCA and started the Ohio Hunger Task Force, known today as Children’s Hunger Alliance, because she saw a need to feed hungry children in her neighborhood.

Leadership

Judy Mobley became President and CEO in 2017. Michelle M. Brown became CEO in December of 2023 after her career as CEO in Ohio Non Profit, Local Matters.

Programs

Children's Hunger Alliance partners and supports partner organizations and individuals throughout the state of Ohio. Please see Children's Hunger Alliance's website for more information. Those different program types include:

Early Childhood

• In-Home Childcare

In-home childcare providers offer care for young children in a family-like environment. Through the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Children’s Hunger Alliance assists In-Home Childcare providers serve more nutritious food, and create healthier child care environments. As one of the largest sponsors of CACFP in the state of Ohio with over 40 years of sponsorship experience, Children’s Hunger Alliance currently helps more than 500 In-Home Childcare providers receive reimbursements for healthy meals and snacks provided to children in their care.

• Childcare Centers

Child Care and Head Start centers provide high-quality care for young children. Through the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Children’s Hunger Alliance assists these centers in serving more nutritious food and creating healthier child care environments.

School Breakfast

Children’s Hunger Alliance works with local school districts to increase breakfast participation and remove the barriers so more children start their day with a healthy meal. CHA provides hands-on guidance for practical ways to offer breakfast given each school building’s unique environment.

Afterschool Meals

Through the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Children’s Hunger Alliance provides healthy meals to afterschool programs across the state.

Summer Meals

Through the Summer Food Service Program Children’s Hunger Alliance provides healthy meals to summer programs across the state including those run by schools, churches, parks and recreation centers, libraries, and other youth-serving organizations. Children’s Hunger Alliance covers the cost of the meals and coordinates the logistics of food preparation and delivery so that summer programs can focus time and resources directly on the students they serve.

Weekend Meals

Weekend meal boxes include shelf-stable meals which are intended to complement meal services currently provided by school districts, childcare facilities or youth-serving organizations. Weekend meal packs include pre-packaged breakfast and pre-packaged lunch/dinner meals.

Children’s Hunger Alliance supports weekend food access by:

• Collecting aggregate data on student eligibility
• Purchasing food items
• Assembling meal boxes for each site and/or school
• Delivering meal boxes through our regional vendors

Nutrition Education

Children’s Hunger Alliance educates and engages children and their caregivers in making or providing healthy food choices and promoting regular physical activity so that children can establish healthy habits at a young age. Children's Hunger Alliance's Educate team provides programming at afterschool and summer programs and childcare centers to help children make healthy food choices and engage them in physical activity through evidence-based curriculum.

The team also works in designating in-home childcare providers and childcare centers in Ohio Healthy Programs (OHP), to create healthier environments for children in early care settings. OHP ensures providers offer children in their care more variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, at least 1 whole grain daily, no sugar sweetened beverages and more. Training emphasizes healthy eating and is geared toward reducing childhood obesity.

Eat Play Grow

Children’s Hunger Alliance works with centers to offer the proven EatPlayGrow™ programming so children can establish healthy habits at a young age.  Developed by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health, the 11-week EatPlayGrow program uses fun, hands-on activities to teach children ages 6 and younger to make healthy choices about nutrition and physical activity. The program includes storytelling, art-making, music and movement activities to teach children how nutrition, physical activity and sleep affect their health. Children’s Hunger Alliance has registered dietitians on its Nutrition and Physical Education team who lead the weekly classes at the Childcare Center.  The program is offered once per week over the course of 11 weeks and our Nutrition Education team members bring everything needed for each lesson: a healthy snack, art supplies, lesson plans and creative ideas to engage the children. Childcare Centers simply provide the space and time to complete the program.

CATCH Kids Club

The Coordinated Approach to Childhood Health (CATCH) nutrition and physical education curriculum is designed to promote healthful behaviors in school-aged children and reduce their subsequent risk of cardiovascular disease. The program consists of 10 lessons focusing on nutrition education and non-competitive physical activity for elementary and middle school-aged children. Each hour-long program engages kids in crafts, games, and physical activity all while learning about healthy habits and having fun. Lessons are offered at both afterschool and summer programs.

Ohio Healthy Programs

Children’s Hunger Alliance works with childcare centers and family childcare providers to create healthier environments for the children in their care through Ohio Healthy Programs training curriculum. Ohio Healthy Programs is designed to prevent childhood overweight and obesity by promoting healthy weight and growth in all children ages birth to five years old.

Fundraising Events

• Game On is a game themed fundraising event located in Cleveland, Ohio.
• Menu of Hope is CHA's largest annual fundraising event, usually taking place in February/March in Columbus, Ohio.
• Taste To Remember is a tasting fundraising event held in Columbus, Ohio, featuring local restaurants.

Partnerships

Children's Hunger Alliance receives financial and in-kind support from a wide variety of organizations and individual donors. Examples include: AEP, Columbia Gas, Fischer Homes, Franklin County Board of Commissioners, Caresource, No Kid Hungry and Sinclair Broadcast Group.