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White House conference

The Work Continues into 2023

We at Hunger Free Oklahoma are reflecting on 2022 with gratitude for you and so many others who continued to press on with us in the movement to end hunger across our state and our nation.

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Two Sand Springs Cash Saver locations now doubling the value of SNAP for fruits and vegetables

Sand Springs residents won’t have to choose between eating enough and eating healthy thanks to Double Up Oklahoma (DUO), a nutrition incentive program operated by Hunger Free Oklahoma. When customers make a purchase with their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) card at Cash Savers in Sand Springs, those purchases will now be matched, dollar for dollar, with DUO Bucks redeemable on fresh produce.

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Hunger Free Oklahoma Applauds Permanent Child Nutrition Investments in Omnibus

Congress is on the cusp of advancing a critical end-of-year omnibus spending package that will make two much-needed, though limited, improvements to federal child nutrition programs.

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Traveling Together Toward Food Justice

Over the past few months as an Emerson National Hunger Fellow, I have found that when I tell people that I work at Hunger Free Oklahoma (HFO), they often ask the same question. “So, do you give people food?” Answering “no” tends to make explaining my job more complicated, but it also provides an opportunity for a conversation about a more holistic view of what anti-hunger work can—and does—look like.  

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Hunger Free Oklahoma Secures $14.2 Million Grant to Increase Access to Fruits and Vegetables in Oklahoma Food Deserts

“Collectively, this support will allow us to make Double Up Oklahoma the largest nutrition incentive program in the region. More importantly, this grant allows us to make sure more communities have access to fresh fruits and vegetables and more Oklahomans have the resources they need to make healthy choices,” – Chris Bernard

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Senate Floor

The Elections Are Over: What Now?

The TV ads have stopped. The billboards are coming down. The unsolicited text messages and calls have slowed (or switched topics, at least). The 2022 election season has, largely, come to an end. Aside from this brief reprieve from electioneering, what happens now? Let’s break down what the aftermath of an election looks like and what it means for advocates at every level.

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White House conference

White House Conference Sets the Stage for Anti-Hunger Work

A Reflection from HFO’s Executive Director Chris Bernard On September 28, I had the honor of representing Hunger Free Oklahoma at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the second such conference in history. Attending the conference was an amazing experience. However, I (like many who participated in-person or virtually) have been working […]

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Hunger Free Oklahoma Commitment to Expand Access to Affordable Food Highlighted at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health

“Collectively, this support will allow us to make Double Up Oklahoma the largest nutrition incentive program in the region. More importantly, this grant allows us to make sure more communities have access to fresh fruits and vegetables and more Oklahomans have the resources they need to make healthy choices,” – Chris Bernard

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Main Blog

Afterschool Meals Help Fill the Gap

by Kaitlyn Klippert, Hunger Outreach Program Specialist, and Treasure Standeford, Hunger Outreach Program Senior Specialist As summer is officially over and schools across Oklahoma are back in swing, families are looking to the future as autumn is rapidly approaching. While many of us look forward to the coming months of sweaters, pumpkin spice, and cooler […]

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Be a Part of Your School’s Village

by Katie Raymond, Regional Program Manager Even though the sun still burns bright and temps are high, August in Oklahoma means Back-to-School season. Between deals on school supplies and tax-free weekends, this season is geared toward making sure families have what they need to be successful for a new school year. But what about empowering […]

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Soldiers fist bumping

Heroes Shouldn’t Go Hungry

by Eric Barr, SNAP Outreach Coordinator Oklahoma is a very military-friendly state. It offers tax exemptions, employment services, tuition assistance, and other perks to active-duty military and veterans. Despite the favorable policies, out of Oklahoma’s 20,000 active-duty troops, one in four participate in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), and roughly 21,000[1] of the 310,000 veterans […]

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Sunset

HFO Seeks to Partner with Native Communities to Address Hunger

by Bailey Ashbaker, Senior Policy Analyst and Engagement Specialist Even though Native communities experience high rates of hunger and poverty, Native Americans are severely underrepresented in data and discussions about food security (1). Thirty-nine formally recognized Tribes exist in Oklahoma today, and they play important roles in the state’s economic, political, cultural, and structural development. […]

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Hunger Free Oklahoma Applauds Child Nutrition Flexibilities in Keep Kids Fed Act 

“Congress took an important step yesterday to combat childhood hunger with the announcement of an agreement to protect access to school and summer meals through the introduction of the bipartisan Keep the Kids Fed Act by Senate Committee on Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR), along with House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA 03) and Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R NC-5).

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Oklahoma Children and Youth Now Eligible for Free Summer Meals Statewide

Hunger Free Oklahoma (HFO) has hired new organizational leadership with the addition of Narine Lambert as Director of Finance and Administration and Keili McEwen as Director of Strategic Advancement.

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Thanks for Another Fantastic Summer Meals Kickoff!

by Abby Stainer, Regional Program Manager The Oklahoma Childhood Food Security Coalition’s 2022 Summer Meals Kickoff is officially in the books. Thank you to all participants and presenters! The educational and inspiring four-part virtual series took place on the fourth Thursday of the month from January through April, averaging more than 60 attendants per session […]

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Strawberries for blog photo

Famers Markets Find Success with Double Up Oklahoma

by Leslie Young, Double Up Oklahoma Program Manager According to the United States Department of Agriculture, fifteen percent of Oklahoma households are food-insecure. It’s a staggering percentage, a number that represents the more than 600,000 Oklahomans that don’t have the means or access to adequate food. There are various temporary and permanent reasons for food […]

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Hunger Free Oklahoma Adds Narine Lambert and Keili McEwen to Executive Team

Hunger Free Oklahoma (HFO) has hired new organizational leadership with the addition of Narine Lambert as Director of Finance and Administration and Keili McEwen as Director of Strategic Advancement.

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Kane Elementary student with lunch

School Breakfast is Important

by Eugenia Chow, Richard Comeau, Jessica Dietrich, Matthew McClure, Katie Raymond, Devin Schroeder, and Taz Shah More than 1 in 5 children in Oklahoma experience food insecurity, meaning they lack adequate nutrition to learn and grow to their fullest potential. Hunger Free Oklahoma (HFO) and partners are committed to ensuring more children are fed more […]

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Seeds

Planting the Seeds of Food Justice

by Sarah Smith-Moore, Hunger Outreach Program Specialist Food is a basic need that every human being deserves but it is also more than that. Food nourishes our bodies, connects us to our families, our neighbors, and our community. We often gather around a table of food for many reasons: holidays, hardships, birthdays, or a night […]

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Looking Ahead into 2022

by Chris Bernard, Executive Director 2021 did not play out in the manner many of us had thought or hoped it would at the beginning of the year. While we were able to get back to some degree of normalcy for part of the year, it was not long until new variants brought about the […]

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Chris Testimony Office

Hunger Free Oklahoma Executive Director Testifies at Congressional House Committee on Rules Roundtable on Rural Hunger

Chris Bernard, Hunger Free Oklahoma’s executive director, was invited to testify at a congressional roundtable, along with four other experts from across the nation, as part of an effort to examine the issue of hunger in rural America. The roundtable, Ending Hunger in America: Food Insecurity in Rural America, was the twelfth event in a […]

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Hunger Free 5th Year anniversary banner

Hunger Free Oklahoma Turns 5!

by Chris Bernard, Executive Director In reflecting on HFO’s five years of work and thinking of how to best sum it up for the newsletter, I struggled. Listing accomplishments and impacts is a perfectly reasonable approach, after all, we have many accomplishments to be proud of – as an organization and as a member of […]

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Hunger Free Oklahoma Receives Critical Investment from National Anti-Hunger Organization

As the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, Hunger Free Oklahoma (HFO) is one of 52 organizations selected to receive funding through a critical $2.5 million investment from MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. The national anti-hunger organization’s partnership grants will help stem the tide in persistent food insecurity that was exacerbated by pandemic-related shutdowns.

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Working together for a hunger free Oklahoma.

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