MARIETTA, Okla.—Over the Christmas holidays, The Chickasaw Nation and Feed the Children partnered to bring holiday care packages to hundreds of families during No Hunger Holidays.
The care packages were distributed to an estimated 800 Marietta-area families.
The packages provided children and families with much-needed food and essentials, including a five-day supply of family meal kits designed to feed a family of four each day; a 15-pound box of daily essentials such as shampoo, conditioner, lotion, five pairs of socks and other personal care items, as well as books and toys.
In addition, boxed meals from the Chickasaw Nation Impa'chi program were provided to children who attended the event.
This was the ninth year the Chickasaw Nation and Feed the Children partnered to provide resources to families across Oklahoma during the holiday season through No Hunger Holidays.
Marietta was hit by a tornado in spring 2024 and the city's only grocery store, along with several businesses and medical facilities, were destroyed.
"They lost their grocery store, and they are still without one," Joy Standridge, Chickasaw Nation Director of Child Nutrition Services, said. "This community has had a hard time recovering (from the storm's destruction), and No Hunger Holidays is one of the ways the Chickasaw Nation can bless families in this area."
Oklahoma currently ranks in the top five hungriest states in the country, according to a recent United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.
In rural Oklahoma, 15.5% of the households are food insecure, Standridge said.
"We are grateful for a long-standing partnership with the Chickasaw Nation," Catherine White, Feed the Children Corporate Partnership Manager, said. "We are an Oklahoma-founded nonprofit and getting to conduct these resource rally events in our own backyard, here in Marietta, really means a lot to us."
Feed the Children has planned No Hunger Holidays events in multiple communities across Oklahoma and around the U.S. as part of its campaign to transform hunger into hope. The nonprofit has a goal of providing 10 million meals to families.
"It is only through partnership that we can reach these families," said Travis Arnold, president and CEO of Feed the Children. "No child should go without, and Feed the Children is thankful for our partnerships that can help ease the burden many families are facing."
During the Marietta event, about 50 volunteers donned warm winter clothes and worked to unload the large Feed the Children tractor trailer, greet participants, load packages and direct vehicles.
Feed the Children, one of the nation's leading anti-hunger organizations, was established in 1979. It is headquartered in Oklahoma City. The organization provides food, education initiatives, essentials and disaster response as it helps children and their families become independent and self-reliant. Feed the Children currently works in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and in 10 countries around the world.
