Evaluation of the 2012 North Carolina Super Summer Meals Pilot

One in four children in North Carolina is now considered at risk of hunger or food insecurity, defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Two years ago, Governor Bev Perdue announced her intention to bring the No Kid Hungry campaign, a rapidly growing initiative of the thirty-year-old national anti–childhood hunger nonprofit Share Our Strength, to North Carolina. Governor Perdue officially launched the state’s program, No Kid Hungry NC, in September of 2011.

No Kid Hungry NC is a private–public partnership focused on expanding school breakfast and summer meal program participation. The organization’s role is to identify needs and barriers, locate resources to address those needs, and serve as a catalyst for local action. No Kid Hungry NC fulfills its role by forming key partnerships with other state and community leaders focused on children’s nutrition. Its first goal was to increase the program participation rate of children eligible for free and reduced-price breakfast. No Kid Hungry NC awarded at least fifty-two minigrants to North Carolina schools for breakfast program outreach efforts, and its staff provided support services to selected schools. The second phase of No Kid Hungry NC’s work, which is the subject of this evaluation, focused on increasing participation in summer meals programs.