Many children rely on school meals during the school year, but once schools let out for summer vacation, these children must look for other sources of food. Summer meal sites provide this crucial source of nutritious food, but in the Windham Region, not all of the eligible locations are actually serving children during the summer months. The Springfield area is of particular concern, as the current summer meals provider for the region is facing some very serious challenges and hundreds of children will potentially be without food this summer.
On Wednesday, May 18th, the Hunger Council of the Windham Region met to learn more about the issues and to find ways to reach every child in the area. Council members discussed how to overcome barriers to expanding summer meal programs, how to support these programs, and how to ensure that families know about them and are able to attend.
To locate a meal site in Vermont, call 2-1-1 toll-free, text FOOD to 877-877, or visit hungerfreevt.org.
To learn more about these free meals and summer activities for kids, join the Summer Food Kick-Off on Friday, June 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Sanel lot on Flat Street in Brattleboro, next to the Boys & Girls Club. This fun, free event will include dinner for families, activities and giveaways, summer camp/activity information, and games and prizes from the Fuel Up to Play 60 van of the New England Dairy & Food Council.
There is no paperwork or registration to participate in the Summer Food Service Program — meals are truly open and free to all kids 18 and under, and a child does not have to live in the town or state to participate. Families are encouraged to identify the site closest to their homes and plan for their children to regularly eat meals at that site. Based on reimbursement, the more meals served, the more support is available to cover the costs of the program.
Community partners involved in the Summer Food subcommittee of the Hunger Council of the Windham Region include the Boys & Girls Club, Food Connects, Hunger Free Vermont, Our Place, United Way of Windham County, Windham Child Care Association, and the four Supervisory Unions in Windham County.
About Hunger Free Vermont: Hunger Free Vermont (formerly the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger) is a statewide nonprofit organization that works with state agencies and community groups to end the injustice of hunger and malnutrition for all Vermonters. Since 1993 Hunger Free Vermont’s outreach programs have substantially enhanced Vermont’s nutrition safety net and increased access to nutritious foods. hungerfreevt.org About the Hunger Council of the Windham Region: The Hunger Council of the Windham Region is one of ten Hunger Councils currently facilitated by Hunger Free Vermont. The Councils are groups of local leaders in Addison, Bennington, Chittenden, Franklin & Grand Isle, Rutland, and Washington Counties, the Lamoille Valley, the Northeast Kingdom, the Upper Valley, and the Windham Region, who are committed to learning about hunger and improving community and household food security. The Hunger Councils coordinate efforts and build strong nutrition safety nets at the community level and statewide. This project is a comprehensive approach to addressing hunger: by educating community members about the local causes and effects of hunger and providing tools to improve nutrition and reduce hunger in their communities and beyond. Membership in the Hunger Council of the Windham Region is open to anyone with an interest in furthering the Council’s vision that all people in the Windham Region have access to an adequate supply of nutritious food.
To learn more, visit http://hungerfreevt.org/the-windham-region or contact Jenna Banning, Hunger Council Organizer, at jbanning@hungerfreevt.org
http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/RH/
there used to be a time when the parents actually supported and fed their children. Now it's up to the working/taxpayers to feed other people's children. Food stamps and free lunch are an acceptable/expected way of life for these kids. Funny many of these same parents who cant afford to feed their kids still seem to find money for cigarettes and booze.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but it really isn't right to punish the children for their parent's poor choices. The "system" needs to tighten the reins on the "assistance" (enabling) programs and restrict the benefits for those abusing the privilege.
DeleteYeah, let the little jerks starve. That'll teach them to have better parents!
ReplyDeleteI think the money would be better spent teaching these young people to forage. It is a skill they can use even after their 18th birthdays. Get them out of the house and into a dumpster!
ReplyDeleteJudging by the quality of the current educational system your advice appears to be right on target. With all the fast food jobs created by Obama versus manufacturing jobs being replaced with the entry of robots to serve your food they are doomed to a life of dumpster diving.
Delete@10:33, You are sadly, very accurate. With warm weather at hand, the endless parade of unemployable single mothers, addicts and ignorant dropouts have come out of the woodwork. All with their hand out for a lifetime of easy living.
DeleteBecause "Dumpster" food has not been served then any that is scrounged by a "person" ought to be subject to Vermont Tax.
DeleteRE: .....hundreds of children will potentially be without food this summer.
ReplyDeleteVery unlikely but if indeed the case that parents are withholding food such that proper nutrition is negated, than DCF must be notified! To not do so is condoning child abuse. Where is the outrage? Aren't neglected, starving children best placed in foster care? Or, is this just an unsubstantiated, emotional rouse to inflate social service budgets?
Oh, it's not all Obama's fault. I remember my father's job being outsourced under Nixon! I graduated high school to 20% unemployment under Reagan. This has been going on for a long, long time.
ReplyDeleteFeel the Bern on this one? Vermont is one of only a few states to have less population today than in 2010. Such a utopia. Even free lunches, breakfasts, housing, healthcare, and other government perks can't attract or keep people in the state because its economic future is a shambles. Decades of Demonrat governance has killed Vermont.
ReplyDeleteSource for your claim, please?
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