CHEYENNE — First Lady Jennie Gordon’s Wyoming Hunger Initiative and Trona Valley Federal Credit Union partnered to alleviate school meal debt in Sweetwater and Uinta counties recently. The amount of debt eliminated totaled $18,063 across five school districts.

In addition to increasing awareness and providing support for the mission of anti-hunger organizations throughout the state, Wyoming Hunger Initiative is committed to finding sustainable solutions at a statewide level to ensure no child goes hungry, and addressing the challenge of school meal debt falls under the purview.

In 2023, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines committed to strengthening communities, serving 13 states and three U.S. Pacific territories as a member-owned cooperative. FHLB Des Moines provides funding solutions and liquidity to more than 1,200 financial institutions across its district to support mortgage lending, economic development, and affordable housing in the communities served by its member financial institutions.

More than $4.8 million was awarded to hundreds of nonprofit organizations and government agencies  across Wyoming to include Trona Valley Federal Credit Union’s pledged funding to Wyoming Hunger Initiative. Thanks to a match from the FHLB, $18,063 was applied to debt in Sweetwater County School District #1, Sweetwater County School District #2, Uinta County School District #1, Uinta County School District #4, and Uinta County School District #6.

“Wyoming Hunger Initiative is proud to partner with Trona Valley Federal Credit Union to ensure less Wyoming children shoulder the burden of debt. Finding a Wyoming solution to a Wyoming challenge is always our top priority,” says First Lady Jennie Gordon. “Wyoming Hunger Initiative was launched with one simple mission: to bring our great state closer to ending hunger once and for all. This partnership ensures that our schoolchildren and their families will have one less thing to worry about in the future and can focus on learning.”