Save the Children's Rural Child Hunger Research and Innovation Lab aims to help communities design and test new, creative ways to reduce rural child hunger.

According to a report called Map the Meal Gap from the nonprofit Feeding America, nine out of 10 counties with the highest food-insecurity rates are rural.

Tamara Sandberg, senior adviser for food security at Save the Children, said lessons learned during the pandemic increased flexibility for federally funded food programs across the country. She hopes the lab will allow communities to continue problem-solving to ensure more Arkansas kids do not go hungry.

"The idea of the Rural Child hunger Research and Innovation Lab is to lift up ideas from within rural communities," Sandberg explained. "Provide them with the support to incubate their ideas, and then funding and technical assistance to try out their ideas."

Sandberg added they are trying to keep momentum going to reduce the barriers children in rural communities have when they are trying to access the food they need to succeed.

More than 444,000 Arkansans are not always sure where their next meal is coming from, according to Feeding America, and more than 138,000 of them are children.

Audrey Freshwater, Arkansas state director for Save the Children, said it is estimated 20% of rural children experience food insecurity.

"And this is a projected increase higher than pre-pandemic levels," Freshwater pointed out. "Here in Arkansas, one in six households with children reported not having enough food in their homes this past year. "

Freshwater noted although they have great support from local food banks, there are barriers such as geographic isolation, lack of transportation and food deserts making it difficult for families to access reliable, affordable and nutritious food options.

She added they are combating food insecurity in rural Arkansas by providing meals to families in need. She stressed hungry children are more likely to have lower math scores, repeat a grade, come to school late, or miss school entirely.

"Since the start of the COVID pandemic, we've helped provide nearly 45 million meals to children and families," Freshwater recounted. "Here in Arkansas, Save the Children has helped distribute nearly 1.4 million meals to families who have needed it the most since the start of the pandemic."

The group partnered with a school district in Mountain View, in northern Arkansas, via the school's food pantry to provide food boxes, critical meals and snacks as well as learning resources to families such as books, learning tools and toys.

Groups working to end hunger in Nebraska are reaching out to all parts of the state to train food insecure people to advocate for others facing similar issues.

The advocacy group Nebraska Appleseed's Food Access Community Advocates Cohort educates people over nine months how to build advocacy, community organizing and storytelling skills, so they are better equipped to understand policies affecting the state's most food insecure people.

Megan Hamann, senior community organizer of food and nutrition access for Nebraska Appleseed, said having experienced hunger puts them in a better position to understand and talk about policy issues affecting hungry people in Nebraska.

"They have this lived experience that is really useful, I think, when it comes to making sure that our decision-makers know the impact of the policies they are considering," Hamann explained.

Nebraska Appleseed will start taking applications for new program participants Friday.

Hamann pointed out the number of food insecure people in Nebraska is greater now than it was during the pandemic, when demand at food banks was already high.

"I think with the passage of the recent federal budget reconciliation bill, we are looking forward to a period of time where that need is going to reach new extremes," Hamann projected.

This will be the fourth year of the cohort program. Many past participants have taken leadership roles in their communities and are now leading local efforts to educate others about the best ways to address food insecurity.


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It has been about three weeks since the Rowena Fire in Oregon's Columbia Gorge was put out, and the local food bank remains vital to recovery efforts.

The fire burned 3,600 acres in Wasco County, destroying 56 homes and 100 other structures.

Breen Goodwin, executive director of the Columbia Gorge Food Bank, said they are always prepared to assist during disasters with ready-to-eat emergency food boxes and water. She added many displaced families are living with relatives, in hotels, or camping and remain uncertain about their next steps.

"It is difficult in a community of our size to absorb housing needs for that many families who have lost homes," Goodwin acknowledged. "That next step of the recovery process of truly: 'How are those families being supported with more long term recovery efforts?'"

Breen pointed out the food bank has been serving as a distribution site to hand out supplies from Adventist Health of the Columbia Gorge and other organizations who donated nonfood items, including air purifiers, generators, hygiene supplies and stuffed animals for kids.

One of the biggest challenges, Breen noted, is keeping a supply of drinking water flowing once people start to return home.

"We're able to drop full pallets of water directly into the impacted communities because most of the time the drinking water is no longer safe until enough testing has been done," Breen explained.

The Columbia Gorge Food Bank is one of 21 regional food banks in the Oregon Food Bank Network. Breen emphasized the number of people visiting the food bank rose to about 6,500 per month during the pandemic and has remained at that level. People can visit OregonFoodFinder.org to find pantry locations in their area.

Indiana families are navigating the summer without SUN Bucks, a federal grocery benefit which delivered $120 per child last summer.

Gov. Mike Braun's administration chose not to participate in 2025, citing prior planning gaps.

Mark Lynch, director of advocacy for the Indy Hunger Network, said the funding blackout hit the state hard.

"We really are feeling and seeing the impacts of not having the SUN Bucks program this year," Lynch emphasized. "That $120 per summer for those students that they had last year have created some longer lines at our food pantries."

State leaders said administrative hurdles kept Indiana out of the program. Supporters argued skipping SUN Bucks puts pressure on food banks and leaves low-income families with fewer options.

Lynch noted to help bridge the gap, Indiana expanded its summer meal sites to include prepackaged meals, which do not require daily pickups.

"But there's school starting soon and they're giving their workers some time off for the summer, so that might be ending in the next week or two," Lynch explained. "That's just an example and that happens around the state in rural, suburban, and in city communities."

The Indy Hunger Network and other partners continue to support Hoosiers through tools like the Community Compass app, which shows nearby meal sites and grocery assistance programs.


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