Ending Childhood Hunger One State at a Time

Participating in February’s Maryland Summer Meals Planning Conference was such an honor.  The exciting news included the announcement of Sodexo Foundation’s $20 million commitment to ending childhood hunger in partnership with Share Our Strength and Youth Service America.

Rosemary King Johnston, executive director of the Maryland Governor’s Office for Children, told me that Sodexo Foundation president Steve Brady was one of the first people she met after Governor O’Malley asked her to lead efforts to end childhood hunger in Maryland. Steve assured her that her work with Share Our Strength would make a real impact and attract support from companies, foundations and public servants across the state. Steve, Rosemary and I have seen Steve’s prediction become reality, thanks largely to Sodexo’s vision and steadfast commitment to the children in its headquarters state and beyond.   One question has motivated me for the last six years: “How can we end childhood hunger in the United States?”  Share Our Strength adopted this goal as our priority in 2004 and launched the first childhood hunger plan in Washington, D.C. with funding from Sodexo Foundation. Now, just seven years later, we have launched No Kid Hungry Campaign partnerships in 11 cities and states, including Maryland, and plan to be in 18 states by the end of 2011.   Share Our Strength’s goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015 through public-private partnerships has inspired me to join the Partnership for Public Service. It is more important than ever to build partnerships across the sectors – including companies like Sodexo – to solve the nation’s most serious social problems. 

Continue reading Sodexo Stops Hunger Blog here...  

  

Sodexo in North America
Sodexo, Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com), leading Quality of Daily Life Solutions company in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, delivers On Site Service Solutions in Corporate, Education, Health Care, Government, and Remote Site segments, as well as Motivation Solutions such as Esteem Pass. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation (www.SodexoFoundation.org), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $13 million in grants to fight hunger in America. Visit the corporate blog at www.sodexoUSA.com/blog.

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