NH Hunger Solutions - Press Release

CONCORD, NH – “The Holidays are a time that many families gather around the table and share good food. However for too many New Hampshire children and families, putting nutritious food on the table is beyond their means,” according to Ellen Fineberg, Executive Director of The Children’s Alliance of NH. The Children’s Alliance of NH is spearheading NH Hunger Solutions, a statewide initiative to improve children's nutrition and end childhood hunger in New Hampshire.

The Children’s Alliance convened a diverse coalition of advocates, business and community leaders recently in Concord to continue developing a roadmap to ensure that all children have access to healthy food in their own communities. Meeting participants also learned about Vermont’s success in addressing childhood hunger through its Hunger Free Vermont program.

The face of hunger is evident throughout New Hampshire, and is a growing concern: 1 in 10 children, or approximately 28,000, lived in poverty in 2010, a number that has almost doubled in the last decade. Also in 2010, 1 in 5 New Hampshire households with children did not always have enough to eat, more than twice the number of households than in 2003, according to FRAC (Food Research and Action Center).

The Citizens Bank Foundation has provided leadership funding to support the Children’s Alliance initiative NH Hunger Solutions. “We are proud to be a part of this coordinated effort to end childhood hunger in New Hampshire,” says Joe Carelli, President of Citizens Bank, New Hampshire. The Citizens Bank Foundation’s mission focuses on meeting basic human needs, and there is no more pressing issue impacting the well-being of children than access to nourishing, affordable food.”

Other funders include the NH Charitable Foundation, Lincoln Financial Foundation, FRAC (Food Research and Action Center), and Share Our Strength.

“We are grateful for the generous support of our funders, and the leadership role provided by the Citizens Bank Foundation,” states Ellen Fineberg. “We know that hunger compromises childhood, impacting a child’s ability to play actively, grow properly, learn at school and fully participate in life. The NH Hunger Solutions initiative will provide concrete answers to these questions: How can we make a difference? What can we do better collectively? And how can we, as a State, coordinate our efforts to end childhood hunger?

The Children's Alliance of New Hampshire promotes policies and practices that enable all children to lead healthy and productive lives and to reach their full potential. For more than 20 years, the Children’s Alliance has worked to improve child health and wellness, educational opportunity, safety, and economic security through research, coalition building and advocacy. Using these strategies, the Children’s Alliance cultivates support for public policies and strategic investments that benefit children, families and communities. For more information, please visit www.ChildrenNH.org.

PHOTO CAPTION: (l to r) The Children’s Alliance of NH Executive Director Ellen Fineberg, Board Chair Andrea Johnstone, Esq., Christine Grenier of the Citizens Bank Foundation, and Celina Adams, NH Charitable Foundation, recently participated in the launch of NH Hunger Solutions: Ending Childhood Hunger, a statewide initiative working to improve children’s nutrition and solve childhood hunger. The Citizens Bank Foundation is providing leadership funding to support this initiative which also received funding from the NH Charitable Foundation.