Our strategic passion
Nourishing the Future
Access to food is a basic need that must be met before anyone can achieve their full potential. Food insecurity is a major problem in every community. The Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation supports strategic partners Dare to Care Food Bank and Feeding Kentucky to provide nourishment to the 1 in 7 Kentuckians who are food insecure.
Dare to Care Food Bank (Louisville, KY-Local)
Dare to Care Food Banks’ (DTC) mission is to lead our community to feed the hungry and conquer the cycle of need.
On Thanksgiving Eve in 1969, nine-year-old Bobby Ellis died of malnutrition in his Louisville home. Our stunned Kentuckiana community took action and created Dare to Care Food Bank, to ensure that no one in our community lacks enough food to live an active, healthy life.
Dare to Care partners with local social service agencies, such as food pantries, shelters, health care systems, and emergency kitchens to distribute food to our community. In the past year, Dare to Care and its partners provided 21.7 million meals to our community. The Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation partners with the food bank to specifically fund the Parkland Community Kitchen, which provides hot and healthy meals to over 30 out-of-school sites every single day. When children are nourished, they are able to learn, grow, and reach their full potential.
FEeding Kentucky (State of KY)
Feeding Kentucky’s mission is to end hunger, in collaboration with Kentucky’s Feeding America Food Banks and partners, through advocacy and resource development.
Feeding Kentucky’s seven-member food banks serve all 120 Kentucky counties in partnership with a network of over 800 local food pantries and shelters. They reach an estimated 1 in 7 of all Kentuckians each year.
Last year, their members distributed 96 million pounds of food and grocery products, which was enough to supply 79 million meals for our struggling neighbors. For more information about where food is distributed, check out this map showing pounds distributed per regional food bank.
Did You Know?
Kentucky ranked 6th
of the 15 states exhibiting significantly higher household food-insecurity rates than the U.S. national average (17.3%) or 1 in 6 people.
22%
of Kentucky's children are food-insecure.
1 in 7
Louisville residents lived in concentrated poverty in 2021.
11.7%
of Jefferson County residents experienced food insecurity in 2015. 16.2% of children in Jefferson County lived in a household experiencing food insecurity.
270 million people
were food insecure globally in 2021.
29.6 million children
each school day in fiscal year (FY) 2019, at a total cost of $14.2 billion.
Fewer than 4 million children
in America received food assistance during the summer.
46%
of American children from low-income families said being hungry negatively affects their school performance.
12%
said they’re sometimes too distracted by hunger to do their homework at night.
Kids who experienced food insecurity in their first five years of life are more likely to lag behind in social, emotional and, to some degree, cognitive skills when they begin kindergarten.
62%
of low-income parents worry about running out of food for their children before having enough money to buy more. 35% of kids share that fear.
23%
of low-income parents have been forced to reduce the size of their kids’ meals due to financial restraints.
34%
of low-income parents said they can’t afford nutritious and well-balanced meals for their families.
SOURCES:
http://www.feedingamerica.org/assets/pdfs/fact-sheets/poverty-and-hunger-fact-sheet.pdf
http://www.kyagr.com/Kentucky-AGNEWS/2016/Hunger-study-finds-food-insecurity-levels-remain-historically-high.html http://www.feedingamerica.org/research/map-the-meal-gap/2014/map-the-meal-gap-2014-exec-https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/national-school-lunch-program/us_us_59836e88e4b08b75dcc5d0bb https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/23/520997010/kids-who-suffer-hunger-in-first-years-lag-behind-their-peers-in-school http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/world-hunger-report/en/