One in ten District households, due to low income and inadequate food assistance, is hungry or living on the edge of hunger. Here are ways you can help now:

• Register to vote.
Voting gets your voice heard, from issues affecting your neighborhood, to national issues, like hunger and nutrition. Take advantage of your right to vote.

• Download a flyer about summer feeding sites for schoolchildren and post it in your neighborhood.
During the summer, children are at greater risk of going hungry when school meal programs end. The Summer Food Service Program fills the gap by serving nutritious meals for free or at a reduced price at various sites around D.C. However, the program does not reach all eligible children, partly due to lack of public awareness of the program. Help us publicize the Summer Food Service Program by downloading the flyer and posting it around your community.

• Tell your story to D.C. Hunger Solutions.
Sharing your personal experience with hunger or food insecurity --- as an advocate, consumer, or concerned resident --- is an effective way to focus attention on the issue. D.C. Hunger Solutions can share your story with media and lawmakers while protecting your privacy.

• Take our survey.
The District is home to 31,000 children living in poverty who are also likely on the edge of hunger. Yet, the federal food programs are not reaching all of these children and their families. D.C. Hunger Solutions has designed an 'Out-of-School Time Nutrition' survey targeted to all nonprofits in the District that serve children, to gain a better understanding of why nonprofits don't participate in the federal food reimbursement programs.

• Contact D.C.'s elected officials.
The effectiveness of the federal food programs depends on continued support and monitoring from lawmakers and concerned citizens like you. Let D.C.'s congressional representative, Mayor and City Council know that food and nutrition give everyone, from children to seniors, the strength they need to learn, be healthy, and be successful.

• Stay informed with our alerts and newsletter.

• Donate to D.C. Hunger Solutions.
Thanks to donations, D.C. Hunger Solutions and its parent organization, Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), can continue as advocates for greater access to food support and can reach more of those who are eligible for help. Donations are tax-deductible.

Get your school involved in the Federal Meal Programs.
School breakfast and lunch are two of the most successful and cost-effective means to ensure children get nutrition in their diets. Yet, only a portion of eligible children are served. Getting your school involved ensures the program can serve more needy children.

• Host a summer food site.
When school is out, many D.C. children go hungry because school meal programs are not available. The federally sponsored Summer Food Service Program bridges the gap in the summer months for these children. Public or private nonprofit schools; units of local, municipal, county, tribal, or state government; private nonprofit organizations; public or private nonprofit camps and public or private nonprofit universities or colleges may host a Summer Food Service Program site.

• Receive federal funds to provide meals at your afterschool program, child care center or adult day care facility.