Game Changer: YMCA Works to Meet Increasing Food Needs During COVID-19

About This Episode

How do we keep feeding food insecure kids and families during a pandemic? Stacey McDaniel, Anti-Hunger Initiatives Specialist and National Spokesperson for the YMCA of the USA, joins Billy Shore to explain the adaptations and collaborations the Y has undertaken to bring meals to more kids and families than ever before. “Nothing is more fundamental than making sure children have access to healthy meals. It hits all the areas children need nutrition to grow and thrive,” says McDaniel. Before the pandemic, the Y was operating 5,200 food sites that served 570,000 kids each year. Today, those numbers have grown significantly. “We know that the demand is increasing… we're seeing just astronomical rises in numbers. We see Y's where every day the number of meals are increasing and the need is increasing,” reports McDaniel. “God bless our school nutrition workers, they have never worked so hard in their lives. I think they are so underappreciated, but they are true hunger heroes stepping up right now all across this country.” Join us to hear how one of the foundational rocks of so many American communities is coming to the aid of so many kids and families during this crisis.