One in 5 Washington kids is regularly at risk of going hungry. This struggle can impede growth, study skills and behavior.

United Way and our donors are building a community where people have homes, families are financially stable and students graduate. We want every kid in our community to have access to the nutritious food they need to grow up healthy and succeed in school. And with craziness like lunch shaming going on lately, who wouldn’t?

Here’s the latest on how your donations are erasing this problem through our Fuel Your Future work:

Your investments during the school year: BREAKFAST CHALLENGE

Donors and partners like Sounders FC, the Seahawks, Seattle Children’s and No Kid Hungry Campaign fuel our work to fuel kids’ learning. We work with administrators and teachers in 85 of King County’s lowest-income schools to find the best ways to increase breakfast participation. When kids eat breakfast, they can learn at their best—true regardless of their families’ financial situation.

Yes, 85 schools is right—up from just 10 a few years ago—that scale increase is huge! And it happened because AmeriCorps teams don’t dawdle. They get the programs up and running smoothly, and then move to the next school in need. From breakfast after the bell in the classroom, to food pantries, evening suppers and food backpacks for the weekend, they work with the schools to implement programs that work for both the school and the students.

“A teacher stopped me on my last day of service in the hallway, teary-eyed, and said, ‘Thank you for solving a problem that we all saw but didn’t have the resources to fix.’ That alone made my service year worthwhile.”

—AMY, AmeriCorps with United Way working on the Breakfast Challenge and hunger prevention at Wing Luke Elementary

Result: 1,000+ students receive breakfast and after-school supper each day.

Your investments during the summer: SUMMER FOOD INVASION

Summers can strain families whose kids eat free or reduced-price meals during the school year. To ease the burden, Summer Food Invasion sets up meal sites at parks and libraries—where kids already are.

The food is for all kids: Meals are halal and include vegetarian options too. It can save a family a few hundred dollars each month during the summer. That’s money they can use to pay for rent, electricity or the ever-growing list of school supplies.

This program leverages unused federal dollars and a generous grant from No Kid Hungry to make donor dollars feed more kids. Your support is helping families move out of poverty and become financially stable.

Result: 337 Summer Food Invasion sites serve 600,000+ meals

Our vision is that every school in King County will have robust programs in place so that no kid in our county will go hungry. And we’re so grateful you’re on our team for this.

Find 5 more ways you can help hungry kids.