Breaking down the barriers that cause food insecurity for children

Across the United States, 11 million children face food insecurity, including more than 38,000 children in West Michigan alone. The current system is failing far too many children and families who do not have consistent access to nourishing food during the crucial stage of healthy child development.

Kids’ Food Basket (KFB) believes that food equity is achieved by pursuing a local food system that adequately supports the needs of every community member. Until that reality is met, KFB steps in to fill a critical gap, ensuring that all children have access to the nourishment they need to foster lifelong health and reach their limitless potential.

For children attending Kent County schools, where 70% or more of the student population qualifies for free or reduced-cost meals, KFB delivers ready-to-eat after-school meals each weekday. These meals are grown with love, packed, and prepared to include all the essential nutrients that growing children require, promoting their physical and cognitive development. In addition to immediate food support, KFB offers nutrition and agriculture education programs to teach children and families about healthy eating habits through experimental learning, such as hands-on and virtual farming programs.

With the assistance of a grant from the Maximus Foundation, KFB served more meals during the 2022-2023 school year than in any prior year. In Kent County alone, nearly 1.3 million meals were packed and delivered with the help of 9,290 volunteers, providing critical nourishment for 7,500 school-aged kids in the community each weekday.

Some additional successes for KFB in 2023 were they:

• Harvested 152,277 servings of all-natural produce for its community from its sustainable Kent County farm.
  Engaged 1,414 Kent County students in nutrition and gardening education.
• Coordinated 9,290 individuals who volunteered their time and talents to KFB's mission by packing, prepping, and delivering ready-to-eat meals and planting, weeding, and harvesting fresh produce on the KFB Farm in Kent County.
• Held more than 100 meetings with elected officials and government offices over the year to spread awareness of the impact of food insecurity.

Learn more about Kids’ Food Basket and how you can help join their mission to nourish children to reach their full potential.

Giving back to the communities we serve

The Maximus Foundation is one of the ways Maximus employees are doing something greater together. Established by the Maximus Board of Directors in 2000, the Maximus Foundation is an independent, employee-led, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Employee donors pool their charitable contributions together through the Foundation, double their impact on the grantmaking program through Maximus’ dollar-for-dollar matching pledge, and make their voices heard by nominating and voting for future grantee partners. Though the Foundation focuses its giving strategy on grantmaking, it also helps coordinate corporate-wide humanitarian efforts and empowers employees to donate their time and skills to nonprofits. Their inspired giving and volunteerism help accelerate the missions of nonprofits on the front lines of the communities we serve. Learn more at the Maximus Foundation website.