Corona virus response

Restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic were not easy for anyone, but they were particularly difficult for children and families in America’s low-income rural communities. Too many families were forced to cope with increased hunger brought about by lost jobs and slashed income, as well as loss of access to school meals. Lack of childcare affected both children and their parents’ ability to work, as many smaller centers were not able to remain open and, of course, learning loss was rampant in both the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years when schools were closed and learning was remote.

Thanks to your support, Save the Children has continually adapted and innovated to support children and families in need. In 2021, we reached over 837,000 children in 44 states – several times the number reached in all of 2019, the year before the pandemic. We’ve done this by usisng hybrid and remote methodologies, by working in collaboration with partners and by pooling resources. We distributed meals, books and online reading material to children and worked hard to stop children from missing out on learning.

Save the Children's U.S. COVID-19 Response Statistics:

• In 2021, we supported the distribution of 22,840,988 meals to rural communities across the United States. In summer 2021, Save the Children provided nearly $1,000,000 to support the distribution of over 2.2 million meals to more than 90,000 children by partnering with schools, food banks and other communitybased organizations across 87 rural counties.
• In fall 2021, Save the Children provided nearly $500,000 to support child hunger programming in schools, food banks and other community-based organizations in rural communities
• 47% of students in our math programs and 50% of students who started the year behind in math achieved significant skill improvement.
• 57% of students in our literacy programs and 62% of students who began the year reading below grade level achieved significant growth in their literacy test scores.
• 57% of kindergarten and first-grade students in our Emergent Reader literacy program and 67% of the students who started the year behind in literacy achieved significant skill improvement. 

Throughout the pandemic, Save the Children remained right where we were most needed: in schools and rural communities, providing the early childhood development services, academic support and nutritious meals that are so critical to the wellbeing of children and their families. 

Thank you for your investment in America’s children.

Links:

• Save the Children's 2021 U.S. Childhood Report