This summer, I was blessed beyond belief when I became a youth ambassador for No Kid Hungry and Florida Impact to End Hunger. I have learned invaluable skills that I know I can take anywhere I go, and I have formed amazing bonds with my coworkers. Though I knew many communities I would work in were in food deserts, this internship helped me understand the intersectionality of hunger, economic, and even racial status. Most of the children that I got to know this summer were joyous and really wanted to make the most out of their summer. However, at first, they were hesitant to let me be part of their lives. Everyday I continued to be consistent in my efforts to reach them as they began to trust me more and more, and even started getting attached to me.

Throughout the summer, I found that the kids really valued the program because it gave them stability – they organized their days around mealtimes. The meals were enhanced by the multiple activities I planned as well as the partner agencies that we booked to come stimulate the kids. Summer is the hungriest time for kids in need and it is also a time where those same children backslide on the progress they made throughout the school year. So one of my goals this summer was to entertain them in an educational way – I ensured that they had fun, but also that they learned something new every day. From reading to them, to teaching them about how to communicate their feelings effectively to rewarding them with a dance-ice cream party, I learned so much about how amazing those children were.

Since this program is designed for the kids, I always stressed the importance of their input, from the lunches they were served to the partners who came out to entertain them. Most of the kids reported liking the lunches served last summer better.

With regards to the partners, Flipany, Swim Central, and Broward Sheriffs Office Outreach (BSO) were favorites among all of my sites. Some sites felt like one favorite partner had less involvement than the prior years and were disappointed. Personally, I created activity days for my sites and all of the kids were fans of them. Some favorite activities included Bob Ross Day (where we paint to express our emotions), Dance Dance Day (The last one still dancing wins a prize), and Future Day (Where we talk about what we want to do in the future and I bring them advice and resources).

This program is a blessing for the communities that get to experience it and has helped so many kids during a difficult summer period. It was my honor and pleasure to be part of something so life-changing.

Throughout the summer, I have participated in efforts to minimize the effects of food insecurity among children in Miami-Dade County. This included improving interactions between community members and outside groups. Furthermore, our work by participating in enrichment activities promoted community engagement. We were able to match the interests of the children we worked with while also meeting their needs.

Goals were met to introduce healthier lifestyles to the communities and to build relationships with the children and their families. We fueled their curiosity about healthy living and shown how we can make it possible together. There was no greater feeling to see children waiting for us as we arrived to the mobile suite and to greeted us with hugs and smiles. It was a phenomenal experience getting to learn about the conditions of the county to then pitch ideas of improvement in the future.

Florida is getting healthier and stronger each day, especially with the work of Florida Impact to End Hunger. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to work within a community and to be a part of a groundbreaking movement. This experience also has reassured me to pursue a career in community engagement and contribute to healthier environments.

– Shirbrina Jefferson

This summer I had the pleasure of working with Florida Impact to End Hunger as a Youth Ambassador. This was the first internship that allowed me to have a direct impact on the people I intended to help. I worked with children in four of our super cites, we shared stories, learned about one another and built bonds.

The internship allowed me to see the world through the eyes of these amazing children, they taught me different things about their culture as I taught them different things about mine. This experience would not have taken place without Florida Impact to End Hunger and No Kid Hungry. I have many many memories and I hope to use the knowledge I have gained in my communication field as well as in the development of my non-profit organization.

– Daina Barrett

On April 11th, 2018, Florida Impact and Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) showcased the success of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) implementation in over 100 schools in Orange County, Florida during the 2017-2018 school year.

Speakers included representatives from OCPS Food and Nutrition Services, school principals, operation field managers, and cafeteria managers. Participants learned about OCPS, what alternative breakfast models are currently being offered (including Breakfast In the Classroom and Grab and Go), and just how successful CEP implementation and breakfast model alternatives can be in increasing average daily participation (ADP).

Download the resources from the Webinar here!

Webinar recording

Powerpoint slides

OCPS School video on breakfast implementation

Today, U.S. Rep. Al Lawson and ten other members of the Florida Congressional delegation sent a letter (view here) to Gov. Rick Scott asking him to take steps to ensure that Floridians have adequate access to food after Hurricane Irma. The group asked the governor to seek additional assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to further meet the needs of Florida’s most vulnerable citizens during this time. You can read the Press Release from Rep. Lawson’s office here. We need you to show your support for this additional assistance today.

We are especially concerned with the activation of “Disaster-SNAP” (or D-SNAP, also known as Food for Florida). D-SNAP offers replacement and supplemental benefits for regular SNAP recipients affected by Hurricane Irma, and extends benefits to many households which are ordinarily not eligible but were impacted by the disaster.

USDA has already approved Florida’s request to allow SNAP recipients to purchase hot and ready-to-eat meals and the state has issued early SNAP benefits for September. But it is critical that we show our support for the other potential requests the governor can make.

Take action now: Click this link to email the Governor to show your support. We have provided template language in italics below that you are welcome to use. Simply go to the link above, fill out your contact information—include your organization name if appropriate, use “D-SNAP” as your subject, and copy and paste the language below into the message box — be sure to include the two links:

Dear Governor Scott,

We know that you are working hard to help all of us recover from the Storm. We support the waiver requests to USDA outlined in the letter and press release below. Experience has shown that delay in requesting USDA relief can increase the suffering of those already devastated by the Storm. We are sure you are working on this, but just wanted you to know how important we think it is.

https://lawson.house.gov/sites/lawson.house.gov/files/wysiwyg_uploaded/FAL.pdf

https://lawson.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-lawson-and-florida-congressional-democrats-ask-gov-scott-guarantee-food

Thank you so much for everything you are doing to help Floridians.

If you do send your support to the Governor’s office, we’d love to know! Email us at staff@flimpact.org.