Food insecurity + Book Insecurity= What are we doing about it?

"Philadelphia has the highest poverty rate among major U.S. cities, and food insecurity is a critical public health challenge in our community"

Part of my work is researching and learning about nonprofits already doing this work and trying to understand what are the gaps within this food insecurity system and how we can come to solve some of the gaps.

A powerful organization working to combat food insecurity is GENYOUth.

Today, 1 in 5 children in our country faces food insecurity¹. Nearly 30 million rely on school meals for daily nutrition, and for many, it’s the only healthy meal they get on certain days. But despite the importance of school breakfast, only half of these children can benefit from it due to challenges like time constraints and stigma.

GENYOUth is dedicated to ensuring children have access to the nourishment they need by removing barriers to school breakfast and increasing participation.

GENYOUth provides schools with essential tools and resources to enhance access to both nutrition and physical activity for students. Over 40 million students benefit from more equitable access to healthy meals and physical activity at school. GENYOUth supports 76,000 school communities across the U.S., 68% of which are classified as high-need.

GENYOUth's work includes:

• Equipping schools with the necessary tools and resources to boost student access to nutrition and physical activity.

• Driving impact through micro-grants that lead to lasting, significant improvements.

• Engaging with schools and students to better understand and amplify their needs, offering insights and thought leadership.

• Delivering universally appealing programs that support youth of all backgrounds, regardless of ethnicity, gender, economic status, or ability.

Another essential organization, the Share Food Program, works to address food insecurity in and around Philadelphia. Share sources food from a range of partners, including government agencies, supermarkets, wholesalers, restaurants, farms, and food drives. The Nice Roots Farm, is a farm dedicated to growing fresh fruits and vegetables that they donate to the community, Share-affiliated pantries, and mutual aid networks.

With the help of DoorDash, Share Food Program provides free food box deliveries to qualifying seniors. Eligible seniors receive one box a month; inside is juice, cereal, canned goods, and other shelf-stable food, and cheese.

Something that we love that Share Food Program does, that we also do at The Dancing Baker, is care about giving books to people. The books sent by BookSmiles and Share Food Program are distributed with the weekly food pantry bags, and the Share Food Program families were excited to receive new books for their kids.

“We send out books the same way we send out food. We work with a lot of community fridges that also have community libraries, and with the back-to-school events, it has been nice to be able to offer books to give out. And then there are the goals of individual people and organizations to help enrich their communities in whatever way they can–like wanting to start their own libraries–that we are able to support through the BookSmiles partnership."

We continue to be committed to helping with the donation of gently used books, sorting them by genre, and distributing them to address specific needs. Books behind Bars is one of the nonprofits we donate to, along with St John's Hospitality, a Philadelphia Men's HIV center. Thankful to be able to do more book drives and distribute books to people who

need it.