Stephen and Ayesha Curry's Eat.Learn.Play Foundation is teaming up with No Kid Hungry and matching pledges to provide up to 2.5 Million meals

With the decade coming to a close, we have taken the time to reminisce on some of the great things the 2010s brought us. Spotify reminds its users of the top songs and artists that brought them joy, and in some cases, their feels. Bleacher Report and NBA dropped their All-Decade teams, which stirred some controversy, but then again, what doesn't.

In the case of Stephen and Ayesha Curry, they have a lot to look back on that the decade brought them. Stephen brought in two MVPs, one unanimously, three NBA Championships, six All-Star appearances, a few All-Star weekend accolades, so on, and so on. Ayesha released two books, including a New York Times best-selling cookbook titled The Seasoned Life: Food, Family, Faith, and the Joy of Eating Well; hosted a series of television shows that include ABC's Family Food Fight; opened her restaurant International SmokeHouse; created a meal-kit company Homemade, and her wine company Domaine Curry; all while racking in endorsements from brands like CoverGirl and GoDaddy. And let's not forget the three beautiful children the Curry brought into the world during the 2010s.

Again, the 2010s saw the rise of the NBA's Huxtables. And that rise all came in the city of Oakland. As the Currys step out of the decade, they took the time to give back to the town that they had so much success and growth in by launching their Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation that literally provides the Oakland youth the opportunity to eat, learn, and play.

"With the Warriors moving to San Francisco," Chris Helfrich, the CEO of Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, explained. "Stephen and Ayesha felt very strongly that they did not want to leave Oakland behind. This is the place where they've done a lot of growing up, where they have grown a family, and it's a place that feels like home."

The foundation launched during the summer, opening a newly refurbished basketball court in Oakland, funding a $50,000 scholarship, and providing over 25,000 healthy breakfasts.

Recently on Twitter, the Eat. Learn. Play Foundation's twitter tweeted the following:

Their campaign is currently raising money to ensure that children who are eligible for publicly funded school meals are getting those meals.

To break down what the what and why of the campaign, you start with the numbers. In the United States, 21 million kids qualify to get free school lunch, and all 21 million are eligible for breakfast. In 2009, only nine million kids were getting those meals, despite the funding being there. To go even further, all 21 million kids are also eligible for meals in the summertime, but only three million get it. Despite federal entitlement programs paying for these meals with bipartisan support, not every kid sees these meals despite needing it.

So insert the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation. With the yearly even figure backing of the Currys, as well as their hands-on help, the organization goes into communities and helps them eliminate whatever barriers exist to getting kids healthy school meals.

The Currys took their time when deciding what problems they wanted to tackle in the community, deciding that childhood hunger and nutrition, closing the college education gap, and ensuring kids have an opportunity to develop through play were the glaring issues that they wanted to combat.

Only 14% of students from low-income households obtain a college degree. Their foundation is striving to give all students the opportunity to receive an excellent public education and have the resources and support needed to complete college or move into immediate career opportunities.

In addition, only 25% of children get the correct amount of daily exercise they need to foster healthy living. There is a slew of reasons as to why this occurs, as many low-income families facing obstacles, ranging from a lack of safe places to play to under-resourced schools that cut recess and physical education, that prevent their children from getting the proper amount of exercise. When children spend less time playing, they aren't realizing the full range of play's benefits: healthy bodies, resilient and creative minds, social activity, and emotional well-being.

To combat this, Eat. Learn. Play. works to give every child, especially those living in low-income communities, safe places to play, and the opportunity to participate in summer camps, youth sports, and other physical activities. Through their work with various partners across the country, Eat. Learn. Play has started projects for new playgrounds, sports courts, and other recreational facilities for kids and families to congregate for physical activity.

On top of all of that, Helfrich says the Currys will continue to focus on equality and women's and girls' issues throughout the work of Eat. Learn. Play.

The Currys are planning to throw their weight behind the causes they are funding.

"Children are our future, and we are deeply dedicated to empowering them and opening doors for their futures," The Curry's wrote on their site's page. "As parents, we see a multitude of unique opportunities our kids have access to, and our hope is that Eat. Learn. Play. will positively impact children in our community and beyond to live out their dreams. This journey is just beginning. We hope you'll join us in unlocking the amazing potential of every child."

If you want to join in getting kids the meals they need to thrive visit: nokidhungry.org/Curry

FeatureCandice EvansStephen Curry, Ayesha Curry, eat learn play, Eat.Learn.Play, Eat.Learn.Play., No Kid HungryComment