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NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — In order to make sure one less child goes hungry over the summer, officials and volunteers gathered Saturday to kick off the city's Free Summer Meals program.
From June 27 to Aug. 26, low-income children 18 and under will be eligible to receive meals at 91 different sites throughout the city. The program, which is made possible through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Programs, helps fill the hunger gap after the school year ends. During the academic year, nutritious meals are available through the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. But once the school year ends, officials said there is a huge gap in food security and an uptick in hunger.
In order to offset the increased need, the Free Summer Meals program is designed to offer nutritious meals to the city's in-need youth. Every meal — which meets federal nutrition guidelines — is comprised of milk, fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins to ensure children receive a healthy, balanced meal.
Over the past eight years, through the acquisition of a food truck and buses, the Free Summer Meals program has expanded to serve more students, William Clark, chief operating officer of New Haven Public Schools, said.
"These buses can drive around and hit the parks and smaller areas that are not as defined as a summer program," Clark said.
From Monday through Friday, the Free Summer Meals program will provide lunches to the city's youth, with some locations also offering breakfast and dinner, according to a news release. While lunches will be available at schools that offer summer courses and camps, 16 dinner sites will also be scattered throughout the city, the release states. The CT Food Bank mobile pantries will also offer free groceries to parents and caregivers.
Every year, 1 in 6 children in New Haven experience food insecurity and 40 percent to 50 percent of children in the city's low-income neighborhoods do not know where their next meal is coming from, the release states.
And while only half of the city's eligible children took advantage of the Summer Meals program last year, officials said they are hoping to increase awareness in order to educate residents about the resources available.
According to Mark Firla, who helped organize Saturday's event, information about the program and its sites will be distributed to 50 locations throughout the city. Through this initiative, Firla said he hopes to increase awareness and help children gain access to the food they need.
On Saturday, nearly 70 volunteers were divided into 9 different districts where they collected materials to disseminate to neighborhoods across the city. But in order to ensure every child receives the nutrition they require, Firla said there is a need for community members and organizations to volunteer for "Enrichment" where they are able to adopt a site and explain the purpose of the program to neighborhood children and families.
According to Kurt Messner, northeast regional administrator of the USDA, 22 million children nationwide depend on the meals program for free and reduced-price meals during the academic year. Yet only 1 in 6 children participate in the summer program.
However, Connecticut was one of the only states that has seen a significant increase in the utilization of the summer program, Messner said. Last year, the state saw a 42 percent increase in the amount of meals served.
And according to Gail Sharry, executive director of New Haven Public Schools' Food Services, this number will only continue to increase. Last year, 7,000 lunches, 3,000 breakfasts and 700 suppers were served per day to New Haven children. This year, Sharry said she is expecting 1,000 dinners to be served per night.
Despite the increasing number of children who are taking advantage of the program, Messner said more work needs to be done to ensure one less child goes to sleep hungry.
"Last year, more than 288,000 children and teens participated in the (free or reduced-price meals) in the school program. But only 28,000 participated in the summer. This year, we are striving to build healthier communities with this program," Messner said.
For U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, the Free Summer Meals program not only creates a healthier community, but also gives each child the best possible start in life.
"(The Free Summer Meals program) gives low-income kids nutritious food, a safe place to be during the summer months when school is out. Summer should be a joyous time for kids, not a time when they wonder where their next meal is coming from," DeLauro said.
However under a new GOP proposal, the program that has served countless of children finds itself in jeopardy. Under current law through the Identified Student Percentage (ISP), schools do not have to verify which children are able to receive free or reduced-price meals if 40 percent of the students are eligible for meal assistance. Rather all children would be eligible.
But through the new proposal, community eligibility would be restricted and 3.4 million students would lose access to free or reduced-price meals, the Washington Post reports. The new proposal seeks to raise the ISP threshold to 60 percent which means fewer students would qualify. Through this measure, the government is expected to save $1.6 billion over the course of 10 years, the Washington Post reports.
"What predicament does that put you in? This child gets fed. That child does not get fed. Where are our values? Every child should get food and a nutritious meal," DeLauro said.
But in order to protect the integrity of the program, DeLauro said city residents must help fight to continue to make a difference in children's' lives. "We need to fight back. This program is a God-send for the thousands of New Haven kids who qualify for it," she said. "In the land of plenty, no child in the United States of America should be hungry."
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Information from: New Haven Register, http://www.nhregister.com
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