ADA, Okla. (OBV) – Amazon Business is working with the Chickasaw Nation to deliver healthy food to Chickasaw children in Oklahoma.
“The Chickasaw Nation Packed Promise program continues to grow and meet the nutritional needs of Chickasaw children throughout our treaty territory by offering shelf-stable meal delivery to increase food access, food security and diet quality,” Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby said during his 2024 State of the Nation Address.
The tribe launched Packed Promise in 2015 as an innovative supplemental nutrition benefit service that increases food access, food security and diet quality for Chickasaw children, according to Chickasaw Nation officials.
The Chickasaw Nation has expanded Packed Promise’s reach by launching online shopping services through a new partnership with Amazon Business.
Families approved for Packed Promise can shop online through Amazon Business every month. Those families receive an allowance per child, per month to purchase food from the Chickasaw Nation online store, which is available through Amazon Business.
The partnership gives Packed Promise program participants a greater selection of items, 275, quick delivery times and the ability to order needed food.
“Packed Promise clients are thrilled with the variety of products and the ease of shopping online. Many have commented on the speed of delivery. Clients had not previously experienced two day and in some cases same day delivery of food,” said Joy Standridge, the Chickasaw Nation’s director of Nutrition Services.
Packed Promise was originally funded through a USDA Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act to End Childhood Hunger grant. The federal grant concluded in 2019, but the Chickasaw Nation continued the program with tribal money.
Oklahoma State University data shows that 25 percent of children in Oklahoma are food insecure, meaning they lack reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
Standridge said 15.5 percent of rural Oklahoma households are food insecure.
“In the Chickasaw Nation and the state of Oklahoma, we have a high rate of food insecurity,” Standridge said. “There is a high rate of hunger. In children, it’s often as many as 1 in 4.”
Children often experience poor nutrition because they do not have access to wholesome, nutritious foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, that contribute to a properly balanced diet.
Families who are part of Packed Promise receive an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card for each child in the household. They can use the card to purchase fresh, frozen or canned fruits and vegetables at WIC-participating grocery stores or at Chickasaw Nation-participating farmers markets. The EBT card is reloaded every month the child is participating, according to Chickasaw officials.
Rural Chickasaw Nation members have greater access to food thanks to Packed Promise.
“Packed Promise was designed to overcome common barriers of living in a food desert such as lack of transportation, long distances to food sources and lack of grocery stores. As a change in the traditional model of a central distribution center, the home delivery portion creates an experience similar to online grocery shopping where families choose nutrient dense, shelf-stable food items they prefer from a food ordering website,” Standridge said.
The program has served an average of nearly 1,900 school-aged Chickasaw children each month, so far in 2024.
Children who qualify for Packed Promise must be ages four to 18 years old, in pre-K through 12th grade and qualify for free or reduced-cost school meals.
Packed Promise benefits are available only to Chickasaw citizens living within the Chickasaw Nation boundaries and in Atoka, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche, Cotton, Hughes, Pittsburg, Pottawatomie and Seminole counties.
Visit Chickasaw.net/PackedPromise or call (844) 230-3785 for more information. Apply online at PackedPromise.com.
