Blog
Progress Toward School Meals for All
September 22, 2023 Marianne Weant, North Carolina Alliance For Health Programs Manager After months of negotiations, the NC General Assembly released the conference report for the budget on Wednesday afternoon. The budget includes three provisions relevant to the work...
Confusion In The Cafeteria
August 15, 2023 Katie Herndon Dawkins, North Carolina Alliance For Health Communications Manager Right now, families in North Carolina are in full back-to-school mode. In some districts, students are reaping the benefits of no-cost school meals thanks to the Community...
School Meals For All Should Be Available
August 15, 2023 Ray Russolillo, a retired CPA, wears several hats as a volunteer and social activist affiliated with the School Meals for All NC Coalition, MANNA FoodBank, MAZON – A Jewish Response to Hunger, and Carolina Jews for Justice. Does this sound like too...
Changes to School Lunch Copay Funding
July 26, 2023 Alecia Sanders, North Carolina Alliance for Health Partner Engagement Coordinator If you recall in this prior blog post, Morgan explained that the goal of the General Assembly was to have a budget to the Governor for approval by June 30; however, very...
Summer Meals for Kids and Teens: What You Should Know
July 17, 2023 By Carolina Hunger Initiative With all the great efforts to assure every child in North Carolina has access to nutritious school breakfasts and lunches, you may be wondering: What happens to the kids who rely on these meals for their daily nutrition when...
It Should Be Easy
July 19, 2023 Toby Hedgepeth Mother, HR Consultant, Pastor I have experienced hunger before and understand the struggle of going without a meal. As a result of my childhood experiences, I am constantly aware that some children don't have access to a hot meal, and...
Rise and Shine! School Breakfast Benefits Us All
June 23, 2023 Katie Herndon Dawkins, North Carolina Alliance for Health Communications Manager Let’s talk breakfast! It’s been said to be the most important meal of the day and I agree. I can’t even start focusing on work until I’ve had breakfast. It’s also incredibly...
School Meals: A Social Work Perspective
June 22, 2023 By Shannon Aiken, Jennifer Hickey, Edie Lindley Master of Social Work Student, UNCW In the field of social work, we answer the call to dismantle injustice and pursue social change. We have been moved to accomplish this as Master of Social Work students...
Budget Conference Committee
June 8, 2023 Morgan Wittman Gramann, North Carolina Alliance for Health Executive Director Conferees for the budget conference committee have been appointed. You can view the list here. What does this mean? Let’s take a step back. The legislature's main charge is the...
Let’s Put Kids First
May 24, 2023 Katie Herndon Dawkins, North Carolina Alliance for Health Communications Manager Some things just make sense. Putting kids first is one of those things. We all have a role to play in helping kids succeed. Ensuring students have access to school meals at...
Why Dr. Ruth Gilliam Phillips and the Community Health Coalition Support School Meals for All NC
May 12, 2023 Dr. Ruth Gilliam Phillips Executive Director, Community Health Coalition Though I am not a native of North Carolina, I am someone who benefited from having school meals every day! If it were not for the school programs that provided meals at school, that...
May 5th is School Lunch Hero Day
May 2, 2023 Katie Herndon Dawkins, North Carolina Alliance for Health Communications Manager Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear aprons! School nutrition professionals are true heroes to students, teachers, and families. They rarely get the credit and thanks they...
Day of Action Was a Success
EMarch 16, 2023 Alecia Sanders, North Carolina Alliance for Health Partner Engagement Coordinator In case you missed it, Day of Action on Thursday, March 9, was a huge success! THANK YOU to everyone who participated in any way! You can see a summary of actions...
Education Appropriations Committees
March 15, 2023 School Meals for All NC is asking the NC General Assembly to fund school meals for all in the budget this legislative session. The committees that oversee education appropriations in the House and Senate, as well as the chairs of the primary...
Ryan Mitchell’s Story
March 14, 2023 Ryan Mitchell knows that school meals for all can help students realize their potential. He is able to see how important school meals are to his second graders in Henderson County schools and believes all students in North Carolina should get the...
Leah Carper’s Story
March 14, 2023 Leah Carper will never forget the shame and embarrassment she felt when a high schooler called her out for not being able to afford a school meal. But she was rescued by a caring school nutrition professional and she will never forget that act of...
One Week Until Day of Action!
March 4, 2023 Alecia Sanders, North Carolina Alliance for Health Partner Engagement Coordinator We are counting down the days until the Day of Action! We can build strong, resilient communities by making no-cost school meals available to all students. Join us...
NC House 2023-2024 Committee Assignments
February 14, 20232 Agriculture Chairs: Jimmy Dixon (Senior Chair), Jeffrey C. McNeely Vice Chairs: Karl E. Gillespie, Michael H. Wray Members: Eric Ager, Kelly M. Alexander, Jr., Jennifer Balkcom, John R. Bell, IV, William D. Brisson, Mark Brody, Kanika Brown, Tricia...
NC Senate 2023-2024 Committee Assignments
Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Chairs: Sens. Brent Jackson, Norman W. Sanderson, Lisa S. Barnes Members: Sens. Jim Burgin, David W. Craven, Jr., Michael Garrett, Lisa Grafstein, Bobby Hanig, Rachel Hunt, Steve Jarvis, Tom McInnis, Natalie S. Murdock, E.S. “Buck”...
NC General Assembly Deadlines and Important Dates
February 14, 2023 January 11 – Session convenes January 25 – Session reconvenes March 9 – Senate local bill filing deadline March 23 – House local bill filing deadline April 4 – Senate public bill filing deadline April 25 – House public bill filing deadline May 4 –...
ICYMI: Buffet of School Meals Resources
December 13, 2022 In our FWIW (For What It’s Worth) blog series, we are attempting to break down the intricacies and confusion around school meals and hopefully shed light on the “worth” of school meals. The school meals program is extremely complicated so the NC...
FWIW: National School Lunch Program and National School Lunch Week
October 6, 2022 Katie Herndon Dawkins, North Carolina Alliance for Health Communications Manager For what it’s worth (FWIW), we believe that school meals are one of the most essential parts of the school day and that every child in every public school in the state...
FWIW: The Community Eligibility Provision
September 22, 2023 Katie Herndon Dawkins, North Carolina Alliance for Health Communications Manager For what it’s worth (FWIW), we believe that school meals are one of the most essential parts of the school day and that every child in every public school in the state...
FWIW: Household Meal Applications
September 15, 2023 Katie Herndon Dawkins, North Carolina Alliance for Health Communications Manager For what it’s worth (FWIW), we believe that school meals are one of the most essential parts of the school day and that every child in every public school in the state...
FWIW: How School Meal Reimbursements Work
September 6, 2023 Katie Herndon Dawkins, North Carolina Alliance for Health Communications Manager For what it’s worth (FWIW), we believe that school meals are one of the most essential parts of the school day and that every child in every public school in the state...
FWIW: How School Meals Are Funded
September 1, 2022 Katie Herndon Dawkins, North Carolina Alliance for Health Communications Manager For what it’s worth (FWIW), we believe that school meals are one of the most essential parts of the school day and that every child in every public school in the state...