Kenosha YMCA Awarded $80,000 from Y-USA to Expand Year-Round Food Access for Youth and Families

The award includes support for several food access initiatives, including a Rural Non-Congregate Grant, helping the Y strengthen year-round efforts to provide meals, snacks, and nutrition support to children, teens, and families in Kenosha County. 

Through this funding, the Kenosha YMCA has partnered with The Sharing Center to expand its rural non-congregate food program, helping reach children and families in areas where transportation, distance, and access can create barriers to consistent nutrition. Non-congregate meal service allows food to be distributed in ways that better meet the realities of rural communities, ensuring more young people have access to healthy meals outside of a traditional congregate site setting. The first distribution on June 9th served over 200 kids (children and teens) with a total of 2,800 meals. Each child receives 7 days of breakfast and lunch and some additional nutritious food including apples and peanut butter. All recipients seemed grateful and one said, “The Y staff is amazing and so kind. We felt very welcome”.

In addition to the rural non-congregate component, the Y-USA award supports the Kenosha YMCA’s broader food access work through funding for capacity building, weekend meals, teen food programming, outreach, food distribution, and nutrition education and engagement. The total grant award to the Kenosha YMCA is $80,000. 

“The Kenosha YMCA is committed to strengthening our community by ensuring children and families have reliable access to nutritious food year-round,” said Dr. M. Rachel Mall, EdD Kenosha YMCA Community Impact Director, “This support from Y-USA, along with our partnership with The Sharing Center, will help us reach more families in rural areas and build a stronger, more responsive food support system for the communities we serve.”

The Kenosha YMCA has continued to expand its work around youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility, recognizing that food security is a critical part of helping children learn, grow, and thrive. This new funding will help the organization improve outreach, build program capacity, and provide practical nutrition support where it is needed most.