Hunger Facts and Figures
Collecting food for the hungry is just the start for a Schools Serve school. While there’s great value in each and every can and in every food donation, there’s even more value in educating all of our families about the challenges of hunger in the United States and about the value of a lifelong commitment to serving our communities.
Want to make your food drive bigger than just a week’s worth of canned goods? Below are resources to share with your school’s families to help create a culture of service and a focus on ending childhood hunger at your school.
Facts About the Hunger Challenge
Because the problem of hunger in the United States is rarely visible, people may be skeptical that it exists at all. Your food drive is an opportunity to educate your school community about this very real issue. The following websites are excellent resources for data, statistics, explanations of food insecurity in this country, and more.
Child Hunger - Understand the Problem
Facts about childhood hunger and the effect it has on physical, behavioral, and academic development, from the Schools Serve national sponsor ConAgra Foods Foundation.
Facts on Childhood Hunger
Data from our partners at Share Our Strength about food security, poverty, hunger, and government nutrition aid programs, along with straightforward information about the difficulties faced by children who go hungry.
End Childhood Hunger in America
Simplified list from Share Our Strength of the nutritional and academic drawbacks faced by children who are hungry.
Childhood Hunger Facts
Basic information about child hunger
Hunger and Poverty Facts
Data about poverty, food insecurity, and participation in U.S. food and nutrition assistance programs.
U.S. Hunger Facts
Information about poverty, hunger, and participation in food and nutrition assistance programs.
Hunger in the United States
Details and definitions about hunger and food insecurity in the United States, plus links to more pages with further information.
Food Security in the United States
Basic statistics and links to more information about food security in the United States, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Causes of Food Insecurity
Effects of hunger, food insecurity, and inadequate nutrition on children’s development.
Average Rate of Food-Insecure Children Younger Than 18, 2005-07
Average Rate of Food-Insecure Children Younger Than 5, 2005-07
Straight facts about hunger, along with a chart of percentages by state.
Food Insecurity, State by State
Blog post from the Guardian newspaper website based in the United Kingdom, summarizing the 2008 USDA report on food insecurity, with graphs and a simplified state-by-state list of information.
Hunger Facts
Compilation of data about hunger and nutrition from a variety of sources.
The Facts About Hunger and Poverty
Basic statistics about hunger and poverty.
Hunger and Food Insecurity in the United States
A few statistics along with explanations of several federal food assistance programs, such as school breakfasts and food stamps.
Children in the States Fact Sheets
Downloadable fact sheets by state and for the entire United States, with information about child hunger, health, poverty, and other social and developmental issues.
Measuring Household Food Security
Explanations of U.S. Department of Agriculture terms describing various levels of food security.
Food Security in the United States: Statistics and Graphics
Graphs and charts illustrating key statistics related to food insecurity, from the USDA.
The Value of Community Service
Can your Schools Serve food drive be the starting point for a year-long community service initiative at your school? The benefits – for your students, your families and for those you serve – are immense.
The links below include information about how much financial value volunteering provides to organizations, plus the personal benefits adults and children can receive by engaging in community service or service-learning activities.
The Value of Volunteer Time
Current estimated average dollar value of each hour of volunteer time, plus charts showing the value over time and dollar value by state.
Benefits of Volunteering
Short list of personal benefits gained by volunteering.
Dollar Value of Volunteering - Cities
Dollar Value of Volunteering - States
Chart showing the dollar value of volunteering in selected American cities, the 50 states, and Washington, D.C., based on average total volunteer hours for each.
Volunteering as a Family
Some additional ways families benefit by volunteering together, plus five reasons why volunteering is good for children.
Health Benefits of Volunteering
Summary and link to a report about the health benefits of volunteering.
Why Get Involved?
Brief list of reasons to volunteer and the personal value gained by doing so.
Benefits of Community-Based Service-Learning
The benefits for young people, organizations, and communities that engage in service-learning.
Impacts of Service-Learning on Participating K-12 Students
Some of the positive academic, civic, and social benefits service-learning provides to K-12 students.
Character Education and Service-Learning Resources
Youth Service America
A partner in Schools Serve, YSA focuses on getting more young people between the ages of 5 and 25 to become leaders in community service through service-learning programs, curriculum tools, and an international network of organizations in 100-plus countries.
Character Education and Service-Learning
Rundown of research in character education that supports service-learning.
Character Counts
A popular program run by the Josephson Institute Center for Youth Ethics that focuses on "six pillars of character" -- trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.
Character Education Partnership
The CEP focuses on defining best practices for character education programs and provides professional development for teachers and administrators, as well as a national conference; chooses 10 schools or districts annually as National Schools of Character.
CharacterEd.Net
A character education website for students, teachers, schools, and communities to find ready-to-use curricula, activities, and resources.
GoToServiceLearning
An interactive website for teachers with a searchable database of service-learning lesson plans from across the country, all tied to state academic standards; created as a partnership between Youth Service America, State Farm Companies Foundation, and America's Promise Alliance.
Kids Can Make a Difference
An educational program for middle- and high school students focusing on hunger and poverty and how students can help, with a goal of encouraging students to continue taking follow-up actions.
National Center for Youth Issues
Educational resources, training, and support programs to promote the healthy physical and emotional development of children; curriculum materials on bullying and character education are offered at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
The NSLC supports service-learning in higher education and K-12 settings, community-based initiatives, tribal programs, and others through its website, email discussions lists, and library of resources available to its grant recipients; a program of Learn and Serve America.
National Service-Learning Partnership
A national network of 10,000-plus members throughout the United States, including youth, teachers, parents, administrators, and others; sponsored by the Academy for Educational Development and funded by the W.W. Kellogg and State Farm Companies foundations.
National Youth Leadership Council
The NYLC helped develop nationally accepted standards for K-12 service-learning practices; it was also involved with writing the service-learning provision for the National Community Service Act, advised the Clinton administration on the creation of the Learn and Serve America grant program, and consults with the Obama administration on the role of quality service-learning practices, as well as connecting schools to share service-learning best practices.
