Share Our Strength

Share Our Strength is a national organization working to end childhood hunger and poverty in the United States. Share Our Strength holds culinary events, solicits individual donations, and uses social media to raise funds, which are then used to fund long-term solutions to the hunger problem. Through corporate sponsorships, Share Our Strength funds are significantly magnified. No Kid Hungry is a national campaign run by Share Our Strength.

History

Share Our Strength was founded in 1984 by brother and sister Billy and Debbie Shore, who continue to lead the organization today. It "began in the basement of a row house on Capitol Hill", and from the beginning, it was focused on looking for long-term solutions to seemingly eternal problems. During these early years, Share Our Strength focused almost exclusively on fundraising and granted its funds out entirely to other nonprofit organizations.

In 2020, the organization came under fire for declining a $200,000 donation from the American rapper 6ix9ine. Laura Washburn, the strategic communications director of No Kid Hungry, stated: "We are grateful for Mr. Hernandez's generous offer to donate to No Kid Hungry but we have informed his representatives that we have declined this donation...As a child-focused campaign, it is our policy to decline funding from donors whose activities do not align with our mission and values."

6ix9ine responded on Instagram, saying, "@nokidhungry rather take food out the mouth of these innocent children I never seen something so cruel."

Timeline

* 1984: Share Our Strength was founded.
* 1988: Taste of the Nation was born, raising nearly $250,000 in its first event.
* 1993: Operation Frontline (now Cooking Matters) began, and Share Our Strength started moving away from being 100% grant-making.
* 1997: Community Wealth Ventures, a for-profit subsidiary of Share Our Strength, opened its doors.
* 2003: The Great American Bake Sale first started selling baked goods across the country.
* 2004: On Share Our Strength's 20th anniversary, the mission was changed to focus directly on ending child hunger.
* 2006: Share Our Strength started its first state partnership pilot with the District of Columbia.
* 2007: Share Our Strength partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to address childhood hunger and obesity.
* 2008: Share Our Strength unveiled its new brand identity and hosted the first Dine Out for No Kid Hungry.

Awards

* Culinary Hall of Fame Induction
* In 2011, Bill Shore received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.

Notes

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Organizations established in 1984
501(c)(3) organizations
Hunger relief organizations
Children's charities based in the United States