FUELING INNOVATION & EQUITABLE ACCESS TO FOOD ACROSS RURAL AMERICA
OUR MISSION IS TO CATALYZE COMMUNITY-DRIVEN INNOVATION THAT ENSURES RURAL CHILDREN HAVE THE NOURISHING FOOD THEY NEED TO THRIVE.
Today, 90% of the counties with the highest percentage of children at risk for food insecurity in the U.S are rural. Barriers such as geographic isolation, lack of transportation, and food deserts make it difficult for families to access reliable, affordable, and nutritious food options. This reality is even more acute for people of color who have been impacted by discriminatory housing, health, and employment policies.
Across the country, there are organizations and community leaders keeping their pulse on what’s needed, mobilizing resources, and finding inventive ways to make food more accessible and dignified for rural families.
We invest in the imagination and knowhow of these champions by creating the space for them to design, test, and pilot solutions that leverage what’s best about their communities in bold, impactful ways.
Create Space for Imagination
We give you the runway and resources to feel safe and emboldened to try something new—regardless of the outcomes.
Our Commitments:
Build Belonging
We strive to build a caring community where we feel seen, energized, and heard—celebrating differences in race, ethnicity, income, religion, immigration status.
Honor Community Voices
We believe that children and families are not only our users, but our ultimate decision makers. We listen, take their lead, and seek to create solutions that meet their deepest needs and aspirations.
Stay Responsive
We will show up for you when you need us—adapting and mobilizing according to the reality of each community.
WHAT’S AHEAD?
The Rural Child Hunger Research & Innovation Lab is itself an early-stage innovation. This open call is The Lab’s inaugural investment and will help inform how The Lab evolves to bring about deep and widespread impact on rural child food security. Save the Children has a long term vision for The Lab to identify, test, and refine community-driven program models that can be scaled or adapted in communities. Our goal is to engage a network of community leaders, higher education partners, and even representatives from the corporate sector to make sure best practices and learnings reach more communities across the rural United States.
SAVE THE CHILDREN'S VISION
At Save the Children, our vision is for all children in rural America to have a healthy, strong foundation to thrive as learners and life. We also believe that the most transformative ideas come from within communities. Through financial investments and technical expertise, we help communities develop a shared vision, engage in data-based decision making, and commit to collaborative action to end child hunger.
Why child hunger?
We focus on hunger as a support to achieving educational outcomes for children. We know that when a child is hungry, it negatively impacts their physical, cognitive, and emotional development, preventing them from reaching full potential. By complementing our robust early education programs with nutrition and food
access, we ensure that children are ready for kindergarten and are reading proficiently in third grade- two key milestones that correlate with success in school and life.
OUR PARTNERS
Cuts For a Cause at
Toney's Barber Shop, MS
Toney’s Barbershop partnered with Save the Children and local schools to give away food, backpacks, and school uniforms, as well as provide free haircuts to community school children. Check out this video to hear the story.
Peacekeepers Society, a Partner of The Yakima County Collective Impact community, WA
The Peacekeepers’ mission is to provide life changing opportunities to indigenous people. They provide food distributions, offer culturally appropriate nutrition education, and strive to remove bureaucratic barriers for people to receive food, like asking for sensitive private info. Hear about it directly from them.
Cocke County Collective
Impact Community, TN
The Cocke County Cradle to Career Coalition focuses on building sustainable cross-sector partnerships that improve community-level results for children cradle to career. Save the Children funds their community impact work and local staff to work on food security strategy.