By Noah Zahn
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Hunger Initiative, originally launched in 2019 by first lady Jennie Gordon, has officially transitioned from a program under the Wyoming Governor’s Residence Foundation to an independent nonprofit organization, meaning it will continue indefinitely beyond the expiration of Gov. Mark Gordon’s second term in 2027.

As an independent organization, WHI gains increased flexibility to expand its reach, amplify its impact and forge new alliances both within the state and beyond.

According to the Food Bank of Wyoming, food insecurity in the state continues to increase as one in five children and one in seven adults in the state were estimated to be food insecure in 2024.

The Wyoming Governor’s Residence Foundation itself was established in 1989 to preserve the governor’s residence and manage charitable and educational projects championed by Wyoming’s first spouse.

Since 2019, WHI has functioned as a central coordinator among anti-hunger organizations statewide that have reached every Wyoming tribe and all 23 counties. The initiative has successfully raised and distributed millions of dollars to producers, backpack programs, food pantries and other hunger-relief organizations.

“From the beginning, Wyoming Hunger Initiative has been about empowering communities to fight food insecurity in ways that are local, lasting, and uniquely Wyoming,” Jennie Gordon said in a statement. “As it becomes an independent organization, I am incredibly proud of the foundation we’ve built — and confident in the team’s ability to carry this mission forward with strength and vision.”

In Cheyenne, this change will continue existing efforts to combat hunger, as is the goal across the state.

Robin Bocanegra, executive director of the COMEA House and Resource Center, has worked with Gordon and her team in the past, and is excited to continue this partnership beyond the current administration.

“I assume they’re going to continue to raise money and then help out those of us that actually do the feeding,” she said. “… Every first lady comes up with a cause or a project, and if they don’t do something like this, then I guess they kind of go away once the family leaves office. So, I think this is great because her initiative has been really impactful in the state.”

COMEA has been the beneficiary of grants awarded by WHI, including a recent one in August; the organization distributed $152,000 in grants to organizations like COMEA statewide.

Bocanegra said this has allowed her team to do things like purchase new equipment and restock the pantry.

Another local organization that has benefited from WHI is Laramie County Senior Services, which also received a portion of those funds in August. LCSS Executive Director Katie Brady said those funds helped the new senior center buy an ice machine.

“They’ve been super supportive to our senior center, and also after Frontier Days, connecting us with the extra food that’s left over from Frontier Days. We were part of that, and so we got to benefit with food,” she said. “So they’ve been very, very helpful to the senior center.”

The organization announced it was granted tax-exempt status as a 501©(3) entity by the Internal Revenue Service, finalizing its shift on Sept. 30.

Funds supporting these grants were raised through various sources, including the annual “Hearts for Hunger” campaign, which contributed nearly $20,000, and WHI’s Hunger Champions Circle.

In addition to providing infrastructure support, WHI has addressed immediate, critical needs; in Laramie County School District 1, local businesses partnered with the Wyoming Hunger Initiative in late 2023 to help reduce a growing meal debt through a program called “Angel Accounts.”

On Dec. 20, 2023, representatives from WHI and 16 participating businesses gathered at Beach Please Drink Company in Cheyenne to present a check for $7,031.29. 

This fundraiser directly targeted LCSD1’s school meal debt, which, at the time, exceeded $7,000 and continued to rise daily. The collective effort more than doubled the approximately $3,300 donated by local businesses the prior year.

This Cheyenne-based effort reflects the initiative’s earlier success in 2021, when the Wyoming Hunger Initiative helped pay off the school meal debt for the entire state, totaling $136,000 and assisting 3,224 children.