About The Library
Welcome to the Hunger Free Communities Network’s online resource library! This ever growing database serves as a one-stop shop and home base for anti-hunger organizers featuring toolkits, case studies, research, online tools, community plans and other resources generated by the Alliance to End Hunger, our national partners and hunger free community coalitions across the country.
This is a user-driven tool, so feel free to rate resources and leave a comment! Also, please submit your own resources, so we can share your good ideas with others.
How To Search The Library
- Keyword Search: To run a keyword search, simply type the word(s) or phrase(s) you’re looking for into the box on the top right of the page (e.g. USDA, child hunger) and click “submit.”
- Category Search: To run a category search, use the drop-down menus to the right of the page under the heading “Resource Library Search” to select your desired search topic(s) and click “submit”. This search will yield more results if you limit your selections to one drop-down menu (e.g. “Content Type” or “Activity”). For an explanation of the categories, please click the orange “?” symbol next to the heading for each drop-down menu.
When the search results appear, click on the title of the resource for a more detailed description of that resource. There you’ll be able to directly access the resource.
Featured Resources
The Self-Assessment Workbook (SAW): The goal of the SAW is to assist a HFC coalition in determining for itself the critical elements for effective organizational management and network functioning and to identify those areas in need of strengthening or further development. The SAW is designed to enable organizational learning, foster team sharing, and encourage reflective self-assessment within an anti-hunger coalition. It can be used for strategic planning, evaluation and building group cohesion.
The Advocacy Playbook: The Advocacy Playbook is the Alliance to End Hunger’s signature advocacy toolkit and resource. It helps make the case for why advocacy a good idea and provides guidance on how your coalition or organization can help the cause.
Toolkit for Developing and Strengthening Hunger Free Community Coalitions: This provides a step-by-step guide for building coalitions, plus it gives best practices examples from the field, ideas for implementation, and practical tools. We hope it serves as a jumping off point for your local community’s efforts to find a solution to food insecurity.
Afterschool Suppers: A Snapshot of Participation 2020 Afterschool Nutrition Report
By FRAC
The Afterschool Nutrition Programs, in normal times, provide funding to serve suppers and snacks to children alongside educational and enrichment programming, helping to reduce childhood hunger in low-income communities and support the establishment and sustainability of afterschool programs. While funding for afterschool suppers has only been available nationwide for 10 years, steady progress has been...
Read MoreHunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2020
By FRAC
The Summer Nutrition Programs, in normal times, provide funding to sponsors, such as schools, local government agencies, and private nonprofit organizations, to offer healthy meals at sites that typically provide educational, enrichment, physical, and recreational activities. This combination helps combat summertime food insecurity, weight gain, and learning loss among children, all of which increase during...
Read MoreCommunity Eligibility: The Key to Hunger-Free Schools School Year 2019 – 2020
By FRAC
Community eligibility allows high-needs schools and districts to meet the nutritional needs of the many low-income families they serve. The option creates hunger-free schools by ensuring that students are well-nourished and ready to learn, and it allows school nutrition departments to use their resources to provide nutritious meals by streamlining administrative requirements. As the nation...
Read MoreSchool Breakfast Scorecard School Year 2018 – 2019
By FRAC
This report measures the reach of the School Breakfast Program in the 2018–2019 school year — nationally and in each state — based on a variety of metrics, and examines the impact of select trends and policies on program participation.
Read MoreThe Food Assistance Landscape: FY 2018 Annual Report
By USDA ERS
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers 15 domestic food and nutrition assistance programs that together affect the lives of millions of people. Accounting for $96.1 billion, or over two-thirds of USDA’s annual budget, these programs also represent a significant Federal investment. This report uses preliminary data from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to...
Read MoreBuilding Strong School Nutrition Programs: A Guide for Charter Schools
By Food Research & Action Center
This guide provides steps to start and strengthen the School Nutrition Programs in charter schools. The guide recognizes the common challenges charter schools may face while operating these programs and the best practices to overcome them so that charter schools can maximize access to school meals through provisions, like community eligibility and breakfast after the...
Read MoreThe Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger
By The Colorado Health Foundation
The Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger provides aspirational goals and strategies to ensure that all Coloradans are food secure and have access to healthy and nutritious foods to achieve optimal health outcomes, educational attainment, economic stability, and overall wellbeing. The Blueprint seeks to leverage current momentum and build on recent successes by coordinating efforts and...
Read MoreNational School Lunch Program
By United States Department of Agriculture
This document is produced by the USDA and answers questions such as: What is the National School Lunch Program? How does the National School Lunch Program work? What are the nutritional requirements for school lunches? How do children qualify for free and reduced price meals? How much reimbursement do schools get? What other support do...
Read MoreFreedom from Hunger: An Achievable Goal for the United States of America
By National Commission on Hunger
To identify solutions to hunger, Congress created the bipartisan National Commission on Hunger “to provide policy recommendations to Congress and the USDA Secretary to more effectively use existing programs and funds of the Department of Agriculture to combat domestic hunger and food insecurity.” This report is based on the commission members’ full agreement that hunger...
Read MoreSpecial Nutrition Program Operations Study: State and School Food Authority Policies and Practices for School Meals Programs School Year 2011-12
By Unites States Department of Agriculture
The Special Nutrition Program Operations Study (SN-OPS) is a multiyear study designed to provide the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) with a snapshot of current state and School Food Authority (SFA) policies and practices and a baseline for observing the improvements resulting from the implementation of the HHFKA. The SN-OPS base-year activities involved collecting...
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