John,

Right now, millions of children are heading back to school to reunite with old friends, tackle new challenges and expand their knowledge.

Behind the scenes, school nutrition staff are working hard to ensure these kids have the meals they need to realize their dreams for this school year and beyond — but they need our help.

That's why we set a $50,000 goal to fund our school meals programs as kids head back to school, and we're so close to reaching it — but we now only have hours left before our midnight deadline! Will you please make an urgent gift of $50 or more NOW to help support school staff and help provide kids with the meals and resources they need to thrive at school?

Even schools staffed by the biggest champions for hungry children struggle from a lack of resources that prevents meals from ever making it to cafeteria tables.

As a nutrition bookkeeper in the rural community of Colquitt County in Georgia, Tonya Parker says supply chain problems and a worker shortage make it hard for her school district to provide planned meals to students.

"In order to attract more employees and help keep up with inflation, we have had to increase salaries. Food and supply costs have gone up, in some cases, more than double."

These problems are not unique to rural schools.

Denielle Saitta from Fulton County Schools just outside of Atlanta begins the school year with excitement and new menu items, but she says, "If we can't get the products in, then we aren't able to serve the planned menu. Our main challenge is managing supply chain issues."

Across the country, these challenges lead to the same disappointing result for kids who count on school meals for their nutritional needs.

"We get excited, they look forward to it, and then we are let down, and they are disappointed," says Frances Montoya-Gatewood at Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in California. "This is hard for us. There is nothing like looking forward to potato wedges on the menu and [them] not being there on a Friday!"

Tha's why we're supporting school staff like Tonya, Denielle and Frances on the front lines of battling childhood hunger in every corner of the country. But these heroes need your help to make sure no kid goes hungry on their watch.

So please, John, give $50 or more now to help us reach our $50,000 goal to support school staff before our midnight deadline, and you can help make a life-changing difference that will prevent children from suffering from hunger at school this year.

Thank you. Thanks to your generosity, children across the country will actually get the food they need to avoid suffering from hunger at school.

Diego Alonso