RELEASE: No Kid Hungry Honors Director of School Nutrition for Craven County Schools as Summer Hunger Hero 

 

 

RELEASE: No Kid Hungry Honors Director of School Nutrition for Craven County Schools as Summer Hunger Hero 

Lauren Weyand’s outstanding commitment to summer hunger relief earns national recognition

June 24, 2025

Contact: Laura Rice at lrice@strength.org 

Raleigh, NC - No Kid Hungry today announced their annual Summer Hunger Heroes awardees, thirteen honorees hailing from ten states across the country who have shown outstanding commitment to summer hunger relief. This year’s heroes have gone above and beyond to expand summer meals in rural communities and broaden the impact of Summer EBT (also known as Sun Bucks).

One of the 2025 Summer Hunger Hero honorees is Lauren Weyand, Director of School Nutrition for Craven County Schools in New Bern, North Carolina. Weyand is a huge advocate of Summer EBT and getting the word out about summer meals to families in her community. She is a big supporter of farm-to-school, the use of local foods, the expansion of school breakfast and summer meals.

Summer has traditionally been the hungriest time of year for kids, when regular school meals disappear for the season. But now, thanks to hard-fought policy wins that allow for flexible options like multi-day meal distribution and home deliveries, summer meals are reaching kids in remote corners of the states. And Summer EBT, which provides $120 in grocery benefits per child, is proving to be a gamechanger for ensuring eligible families can afford healthy food for their children.

“No Kid Hungry is proud to honor these outstanding individuals for their tireless work to ensure kids in rural communities receive summer meals and that families feel the economic relief afforded by Summer EBT benefits,” said Allison Dela Cuesta, No Kid Hungry associate director. “Thanks to their efforts, thousands of kids can count on healthy meals all summer, allowing them to return to school in the fall healthy and ready to learn.” 

No Kid Hungry salutes all our Summer Hunger Heroes and all those who work tirelessly to keep our children nourished and healthy over the summer and throughout the year.

 

About No Kid Hungry

No child should go hungry in America. But millions of kids in the United States live with hunger. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty. Join us at NoKidHungry.org.