Since 2012, the Carolina Hunger Initiative (CHI) has hosted a conference that brings together hundreds of school nutrition professionals, food bank staff, educators, and other champions from across the state.
In 2025, the 14th annual conference is on Feb. 25 in Chapel Hill, and the theme is “rooted in community.” Attendees will grow their community of child hunger leaders from across the state, hear new strategies and success stories, and leave energized to advocate.
Register here. I hope to see you there.
Website helps college students learn about food assistance
A just launched online resource, NCCollegeFoodBenefits.org, aims to reduce food insecurity among college students in North Carolina by raising awareness of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The website — which offers a user-friendly quiz that helps students determine their potential eligibility — and an outreach campaign are a project of CHI.
SNAP, also known in North Carolina as Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), provides food benefits to low-income individuals or families to supplement their grocery budget so they can afford nutritious food essential to health and well-being, according to a press release.
Nationally, 2 out of 3 college students who are likely eligible for SNAP/FNS food assistance aren’t participating in the program, according to the US Government Accountability Office.
“Worrying about basic needs like food shouldn’t get in the way of your academic success,” said Dr. Jessica Soldavini with CHI.
In addition to student resources, the website offers a dedicated section for staff and partners who work with college students, providing tools to assist in disseminating information about food assistance programs.
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An update on SUN Bucks
SUN Bucks, also known as Summer EBT, is a new federal grocery benefit for families with eligible school-aged children to help buy groceries during the summer.
According to CHI’s year-end report, the organization worked with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and other partners on the SUN Bucks communications campaign to make sure families had access to all of the information about this exciting new program.
In November 2024, then-Gov. Roy Cooper announced that more than $129 million in food assistance was distributed to more than one million children through the SUN Bucks program during its first summer of operation in North Carolina.
North Carolina Innovative School Breakfast
In 2023, Cooper directed more than $1.5 million in federal funds to expand school breakfast in North Carolina. CHI and the NC Alliance for Health managed the grant process.
From Cherokee County Schools in the west to Tyrrell County Schools in the east, through these grants 47 more school districts and charter schools purchased kitchen equipment to increase meal prep capacity and serving equipment to more easily and efficiently distribute meals to students.
Now more than 250 schools are reaching students with healthy school breakfast.
A former CHI intern’s research on is published!
Graduate and undergraduate student employees and interns are a key part of the work at CHI. In 2024, more than 30 college students worked with the team, according to the year-end report.
Co-authored by Albert Pan, a former CHI intern, a new report published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior explores the landscape of school meal charge policies across the United States and focuses on unpaid meal debt and its implications for children and their families.
Here is the press release, here is the research, and here is a podcast to learn more.
Other resources from the Carolina Hunger Initiative
CHI’s nutrition and cooking classes continue in person and online. In 2024, they worked with more than 200 kid and adult participants. Here is more information.
The organization’s work on Summer Nutrition Programs for Kids is a year-round project.
Through working on summer meals, you will meet students like Sophia Ogawa, a student a Brevard College who worked with the Transylvania County Schools.
“I think the biggest thing for me,” Ogawa says, “is this is very personal for me because when I was in elementary, middle, and high school, I actually received meals from the hunger initiative in South Carolina. And so to be on the other side of that is just really special.”
Learn more here.
