Kye recently spoke to nearly 2,000 teachers at the 2011 Arkansas Reading Association Conference.
It was a unique opportunity to talk with the people who are on the front lines with our kids each day at school.? Typically, teachers spend more time every day with our children than parents do, and they are often the first to recognize physical, educational, or emotional problems due to hunger.
Kye talked to the teachers about how Arkansas now ranks #1 in the nation in childhood hunger.? That means 1 in 4 children do not know when their next meal will be.
“There is no excuse for our kids to go to bed or to wake up hungry,” said Kye. He described the Food For Kids program and how each child who needs food can be sent home with a backpack full of food each day, and for the weekend, if needed.? “The backpacks provide a child food with a sense a dignity,” Kye said, “No one has to know they are filled with food.”
The literacy teachers responded to Kye and the Food for Kids program with a standing ovation and a monetary pledge toward the program as well.? Many authors from across the country were attending the conference, including Lynne Cherry, who spoke with Kye after he addressed the conference.? Cherry writes books and makes films about kids making a difference and was very happy to see the difference KYE-YAC is helping make in Arkansas.
