The Rural Child Poverty Nutrition Center at the University of Kentucky is accepting grant applications to help lower instances of childhood hunger in some of the nation’s most persistently poor areas.

About 85 percent of all persistently poor counties in the United States are in rural areas, and children are one of the most vulnerable groups within rural America.

The center will award grants to as many as 25 projects that use creative approaches to improve coordination among available nutrition assistance programs. The goal is to increase families’ participation in such programs, including U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service’s Child Nutrition programs. Grant awards will range from $50,000 to $100,000.

The center was created earlier this year through a partnership between the USDA and UK and is housed in the UK School of Human Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Center partners include the UK Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky, the UK Center for Business and Economic Research, the Altarum Institute, the Southern Rural Development Center.

States with eligible counties include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

State or local governments and nonprofit organizations within the 324 qualifying counties are eligible to apply for grants from the center. A list of qualifying counties is available on the center’s website at http://www.rcpnc.org.

The deadline for applications is Sept. 30. The center will announce grant winners later in the fall. More information about the available grants and application process is available on the center’s website or by contacting center director Joann Lianekhammy at 859-257-3888.