When I first began applying to FoodCorps, I had my sights set on cities not so near home. I had been part of a great social scene in a college town doing college-y things and I was ready for everything except going back “home.” To me, serving close to home meant I was doing a safe thing. I could feel the eyes of friends and family waiting to see what far away thing my college degree would propel me into next, and going home after college just did not seem to fit that bill.

Moencopi Day School in Tuba City, Arizona, has offered a garden learning program for over 10 years. But it was just last spring that student-grown produce first appeared on this elementary school’s cafeteria lunch line—a Hopi Nation first. FoodCorps is proud to be supported nationally by the Walmart Foundation as together we seek to reach children with high quality, impactful nutrition education that sets kids up for healthy futures.

We just took an exciting step forward in protecting national service and the health of our nation’s kids. Congress has signed into law a bipartisan spending bill for the 2018 federal fiscal year, and while the bill as a whole is a mixed bag, it does include wins for national service and healthy-food education—progress that your voices helped make happen.

FoodCorps AmeriCorps service member LaBria Lane talks about her experience serving in Flint, and how serving led her to challenges and growth.

We’re posting two different designs with different messages on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Whichever design has the most likes will be available as a t-shirt next month.

Every weekday, FoodCorps AmeriCorps service members connect kids to healthy food in schools. But what does that look like, really? Read about Abby’s day teaching kids to grow food in the winter.