Ashlee Lundvall

Wyoming First Lady Jennie Gordon is launching a new effort aimed at reducing hunger among children and families across the state. The governor’s wife has tabbed a Cody woman and several others to help get the Wyoming Hunger Initiative up and running.

“I am not interested in reinventing the wheel but rather in making a difference for kids in Wyoming,” Gordon said in announcing the initiative last week. “If I can shed light on the work that is currently being done and bring organizations together to direct attention to a united effort, that is my ultimate goal.”

Since becoming first lady, Gordon has spent time learning about the organizations and frameworks in place around the state that combat hunger in Wyoming, the governor’s office said. She has visited the Food Group in Sheridan, volunteered through the Friday Food Bag Foundation in Cheyenne to pack backpacks, toured the Wyoming Food for Thought Project in Casper, had “breakfast after the bell” with students in Laramie County, visited mobile food pantries in Gillette and joined a task force in conjunction with the Wyoming Department of Education to pursue breakfast program enrollment strategies around the state.

A gift from the 2019 Inauguration Committee and funds raised at the 2019 First Lady’s Luncheon are helping launch the Wyoming Hunger Initiative. The Wyoming Governor’s Residence Foundation Board is also raising funds, which will be turned into grants for organizations and school districts throughout Wyoming.

Gordon recently announced her new members for the foundation board. Among the 11 members named to the board from around the state was Ashlee Lundvall of Cody. Lundvall is an outdoorswoman and motivational speaker who’s actively supported several causes and nonprofit organizations, including Wyoming Disabled Hunters.

Lundvall and other board members will focus on supporting the work of the Wyoming Hunger Initiative, described as “a nonprofit, bipartisan organization that will work to fight food insecurity for Wyoming children and families.” The board is also tasked with helping to find funds for “small projects” in and around the governor’s residence.

“I chose my board based on the expertise that they could bring to the initiative as well as residence improvements,” Gordon said. “I wanted the entire state of Wyoming to feel represented.”

Other members include Susan Samuelson, Kathryn Boswell, Annemarie McCracken Picard, Diane Asay, and Alfrieda Gonzales of Cheyenne, Lynn Kirkbride of Chugwater; Paty Gierau of Jackson; Joann Skeim-True of Casper, Deb Wendtland of Sheridan and Laurie Box of Saratoga.

For more information, including how to get involved in the Wyoming Hunger Initiative, visit www.nohungerwyo.org.