Letter From NASDAQ: The Importance of Investing in Our Kids

Last Friday in NY, we rang the opening bell for trading on NASDAQ, as colorful, confetti-filled images were projected 10-20 stories high on Times Square video screens.

We participated in this great morning thanks to Ray Blanchette and Jim Mazany of Joe’s Crab Shack and The Ignite Restaurant Group (listed on NASDAQ.)  Instead of basking in their moment in the sun, they shared their strength by having the No Kid Hungry campaign and Dine Out take center stage. That generosity of spirit is characteristic of the leadership behind Dine Out’s growth. 

It may seem unusual for a nonprofit to be the focus at NASDAQ. But perhaps not in our case. NASDAQ is for entrepreneurs investing in the future.  Their goals are to create wealth and enhance innovation and economic competitiveness. That’s what Share Our Strength is about as well. We create “community wealth” to invest in the children representing our nation’s future. We can’t have a strong nation or strong economy without strong kids.

Earlier last week, USDA released new data showing food insecurity essentially unchanged from the 14.5 percent of Americans considered food insecure the year before, and still much worse than the 11.1 percent rate before the Great Recession. Hungry Americans never recovered even though the stock market did. In 2009, NASDAQ fell to 1958 points and the Dow to 9344. By 2014, NASDAQ had doubled to 4562 and the Dow nearly so to 17,069.

NASDAQ has nothing to feel bad about. It did what it’s supposed to do. Such growth directly benefits some and indirectly benefits many. On the other hand, our political leadership should feel sick-to-its-stomach awful. If you can’t come together to feed our hungriest kids while massive amounts of wealth is being created, when would you? 

The rebounding stock market shows that America knows how to create wealth. But the lack of progress in addressing hunger and food insecurity shows we are not as good at creating opportunity for all.

Hopefully other companies will be inspired by the commitment to community of Ignite and our many corporate partners like the Food Network, Williams-Sonoma, Corner Bakery and Arby’s just to name a few. (A more comprehensive list of Dine Out participants can be found at NoKidHungry.org.) This can help create the necessary political will to end hunger. Economic success gave us a lot to smile and cheer about at NASDAQ last week. We’ll have even more to celebrate when our collective efforts lead to economic justice.  

Celebrating economic success, waiting for economic justice

            Last Friday in NY we rang the opening bell for trading on NASDAQ, as colorful confetti filled images were projected 10-20 stories high on Times Square video screens. See @ http://photos.nasdaq.com/2014/09OPENS/No-Kid-Hungry/n-P6ZRm/i-QN6KkVs/A  

 We participated thanks to Ray Blanchette and Jim Mazany of Joe’s Crab Shack and The Ignite Restaurant Group (listed on NASDAQ.)  Instead of basking in their moment in the sun, they shared their strength by having the No Kid Hungry campaign and Dine Out take center stage. That generosity of spirit is characteristic of the leadership behind Dine Out’s growth.  We reached a larger audience with our message and had board members (Wally and Joni Doolin, Mark Rodriguez) and Dine Out Partners (Marla Topliff, Tommy Bahama, the Food Network and others) participate. The professionalism of Molly Parker, Jen Kaleba, Kathryn Haskin, Jessie Sherrer and Alison Zayas and others on our team ensured a successful day.

It may seem unusual for a nonprofit to be the focus at NASDAQ. But perhaps not in our case. NASDAQ is for entrepreneurs investing in the future.  Their goals are to create wealth and enhance innovation and economic competitiveness. That’s what Share Our Strength is about as well. We create “community wealth” to invest in the children representing our nation’s future. We can’t have a strong nation or strong economy without strong kids.

Earlier last week, USDA released new data showing food insecurity essentially unchanged from the 14.5 percent of Americans considered food insecure the year before, and still much worse than the 11.1 percent rate before the Great Recession. Hungry Americans never recovered even though the stock market did. In 2009 NASDAQ fell to 1958 points and the Dow to 9344. By 2014 NASDAQ had doubled to 4562 and the Dow nearly so to 17,069.

NASDAQ has nothing to feel bad about. It did what it’s supposed to do. Such growth directly benefits some and indirectly benefits many. On the other hand, our political leadership should feel sick-to-its-stomach awful. If you can’t come together to feed our hungriest kids while massive amounts of wealth is being created, when would you? 

The rebounding stock market shows that America knows how to create wealth. But the lack of progress in addressing hunger and food insecurity shows we are not as good creating opportunity for all.

Hopefully other companies will be inspired by the commitment to community of Ignite and our many corporate partners. That can help create the necessary political will to end hunger. Economic success gave us a lot to smile and cheer about at NASDAQ last week. We’ll have even more to celebrate when we achieve economic justice.  

Maryland success highlights need for American Meals For Achievement

Public-private partnerships just earned a new vote of confidence thanks to the achievements of our No Kid Hungry campaign.  Heading into the crucial last months of 2014, it affirms our hard work pays off for the children we serve.

Last week the Washington Post reported that Maryland awarded nearly $7 million in state funds to ensure more students could start the school day with a healthy breakfast.  See @ ow.ly/APRlP   The money will reach 481 schools across the state through the Maryland Meals for Achievement program (MMFA) which has been one of Governor O’Malley’s primary vehicles for advancing our goals.  MMFA enables all children, whether they can afford breakfast or not, to have breakfast together, in their own classroom, or on the way into class, as an alternative to traditional breakfast in the cafeteria which requires children to arrive early and suffer the stigma of being the kids who need assistance.

The program’s name says it all. Meals for achievement. Maryland was one of the first states to understand the strong and direct connection between well fed children and academic success. Because of the dramatic improvement in school breakfast participation that our campaign has achieved, Governor O’Malley consistently proposes boosts for MMFA funding.

From the time that Governor O’Malley embraced the goals of ending childhood hunger in Maryland in partnership with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, the number of schools participating has increased 87%.   Those schools show a 7.2% lower rate of chronic absenteeism and are 12.5% more likely to achieve proficiency on standardized math tests.  For every dollar the state spends on MMFA, Maryland gets $4.75 in federal reimbursements for meals.  The winners: children, schools, taxpayers.

As satisfying as this may be, our response must go beyond celebration, to challenging ourselves to think even bigger.

Arkansas, inspired by Maryland Meals For Achievement, was first to create a similar program for its state. The challenge now is to enable other states to follow. If education is the priority we say it is, there ought to be an American Meals for Achievement so that every state’s students have an opportunity to succeed in school by starting the day with the nutrition they need.

In today’s economic and political environment, the threshold question is whether to accept traditional and incremental progress, or push for big and bold.  There’s comfort in the former, But not sufficient impact.  With big and bold, failure is always a risk, but one worth taking when the cost is low, the return is high, and our children’s future, perhaps our nation’s, hangs in the balance.