We’d like to take a moment to recognize two Arkansas mayors, Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan and Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott, who were part of an inaugural group of city leaders to join a new coalition focused on ending childhood hunger. Last week, the men joined with more than 50 mayors nationwide in launching the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, a nonpartisan coalition that will utilize the individual and collective leadership of mayors to take meaningful action to end childhood hunger in cities nationwide. In the United States today, nearly 12 million children face food insecurity.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Scott. “It’s the right thing to take care of our children. It’s the right thing to ensure that our children have a daily meal. It’s the right thing that our children have their meals provided to them so they can reach their full potential.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, state, local, and national leaders have taken action to fight childhood hunger — tactics that worked to stave off greater rates of food insecurity despite the severe economic hardships brought on by the pandemic. The Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger have partnered with the national nonprofit Share Our Strength and it’s No Kid Hungry campaign.
“Mayors have witnessed firsthand the hardship their constituents are facing, and their cities are on the frontlines of responding to the short and long-term impacts of hunger in their communities,” said Lisa Davis, senior vice president of Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen mayors address child hunger in a variety of creative ways, like advocating for and strengthening nutrition programs, to creating innovative public private partnerships and growing awareness of the systemic connections between poverty, racism and hunger.”
For more information about the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, please visit . Click here for more about No Kid Hungry in Arkansas.