Feeding our Kids

06/12/2026

Interested in helping with a school garden this summer? 🌱☀️

We’re sharing an opportunity to support the Kenwood Elementary School Garden and help keep it growing throughout the summer months.

📍 Where: Kenwood Elementary, 1001 Stratford Dr. Champaign
📅 When: Wednesdays through August 5
⏰ Time: 8:00–9:30 AM

Whether you have a green thumb or just want to lend a hand, volunteers are welcome!

Click the SignUpGenius link for more information and to sign up.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050945AEA82AAAF85-64483140-kenwood #/

06/10/2026

Thank You, Adopt-a-School Sponsors!

We are incredibly grateful to all of our Adopt-a-School sponsors for the 2025-2026 school year. Your generosity helps ensure that local children have access to nutritious food on the weekends, making a meaningful difference in their lives and supporting their success both in and out of the classroom.

Interested in becoming an Adopt-a-School sponsor? We'd love to talk with you about how you can make an impact for local kids! Contact Alison at [email protected] or learn more at: https://feedingourkids.org/adopt/

⭐ Bonus News! ⭐
We're excited to welcome our first sponsor for the 2026-2027 school year: the Carrie Busey 25-26 Student Council! Through their fundraising efforts, they raised enough money to provide weekend food bags for five students at their school. We are inspired by their commitment to helping their peers and thank them for their support.

06/04/2026

Students at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine donated 27 boxes of oatmeal to help fill our summer food bags!

This donation was made possible through funding awarded to them by the American Medical Association Foundation to support organizations helping children.

We especially appreciate Lauren, a medical student who coordinated this project and made sure the oatmeal arrived in time for our summer food pack on Monday. We are looking forward to having them volunteer with us in the new school year.

06/03/2026

We are excited to share that Feeding Our Kids has been awarded a 2026 Community Impact Grant from Carle Health.

This grant will help support our mission of ensuring children across Champaign County have reliable access to nutritious food on weekends when school meals are not available.

Carle Health is committed to supporting services that address food insecurity and promote access to nutritious food that improve the overall well-being of children. We appreciate their partnership in addressing food insecurity in our community.

Thank you, Carle Health, for supporting Feeding Our Kids and the children and families we serve throughout Champaign County!

06/02/2026

Visit this link to find summer meal options for kids 18 and under at Champaign, Urbana and Rantoul school sites.

🌟Chambanamoms tip: Both Urbana School District #116 and Champaign Unit 4 Schools offer FREE meals for children over the summer through USDA's Summer Food Program.

🥪Many children rely on school lunches - this program helps increase food access over the summer. Details can be found here: chambanamoms.com/2026/05/26/children-summer-meals-champaign-urbana/

🗣Help us get the word out in hopes that no kid goes hungry this summer!

06/01/2026

Summer meals (breakfast and lunch) at Champaign Unit 4 schools starts today for kids 18 and under. You do not need to be a Unit 4 family to receive these meals. Check the list to see where meals are served each week through the summer and refer to the original post for any additional details.

05/28/2026

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting the Rotary Club of Champaign! We appreciate them taking the time to volunteer and help pack bags of food for local kids across our community.

Fun fact: Many years ago, this Rotary Club helped with the initial purchase of the green and blue bins we still use today. Their support has made a lasting impact on Feeding Our Kids and the students we serve each week.

Thank you, Rotary Club of Champaign, for your continued partnership and commitment to helping local children thrive!

05/21/2026

This school year, 53,093 bags were packed and delivered to schools by dedicated volunteers to help feed kids on the weekends across Champaign County. Even as the numbers of food insecure kids increased throughout the year our volunteers continued to step up to meet the need.

Thank you to our volunteers, community partners, donors, school social workers, and school liaisons who make this work possible every week! Your support helps ensure children have access to food when they need it most. We appreciate all of you for caring so much about kids here locally.

As the school year wraps up, our work continues as we are now providing summer bags to help support kids at area summer programs.

05/13/2026

During Food Allergy Awareness Week, we want to highlight an important part of our program. Every week, Feeding Our Kids serves more than 100 students with special dietary restrictions through carefully packed “allergy bags.”

To make this possible, we host a separate food sort dedicated to these bags, which can range from a single allergen restriction like “no guava” to more complex needs such as “no pork, fish, wheat, or nuts.” Each bag is labeled with a special yellow sticker listing the school and dietary restrictions to help ensure students receive safe food options.

We are grateful for the volunteers and partners who help make this extra level of care possible so every child can have a bag with food that meets their needs.

05/11/2026

We’re grateful for the hard work and dedication of our Humanities in Action Scholars this semester, Lucas and Amari!

If you’ve attended one of our food packs, you’ve likely seen them keeping things running smoothly by filling bins and helping with operations. Beyond the packs, Lucas has been helping design a new flyer and update our website, while Amari has been supporting our database management efforts.

These students are making a real impact both in the classroom and at Feeding Our Kids, and we appreciate all the time, energy, and talent they bring to our mission!


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