Summer Food Program feeds children

A sobering statistic for you today.  Did you know that 25 percent of children in our area are food insecure?  That means they don't know where their next meal will come from.

But, there is a program underway right now to help those children during the summer.  It's the Summer Food Service Program.  It's paid for by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and facilitated by the Bay Area Food Bank. 

Each morning, the Food Bank kitchen is crowded, as workers and volunteers make lunches for thousands of children in Alabama and Mississippi.  They also provide lunches to children in Florida, but that meal preparation is done in a different kitchen. 

In all, the numbers are up this year to 100 sites. 

Bay Area Food Bank Executive Director David Reaney explains, "last year, a little over 60 sites.  So, a very large increase this year.  I think it's the fact that the staff here has gotten out and found more sites.  More people learn about how they can help with the program, and that gets more meals to kids who need it."

The Summer Food Service Program is federally funded.  So, the Food Bank is reimbursed for all the food served.  And, there are very specific guidelines about what goes into the lunches.  They serve sandwiches three days a week, a salad one day and wraps on the fifth-day, along with fruits and vegetables and other meal staples.  It's all laid out in the U.S.D.A. guidelines.

But, the Food Bank does have to pay for transporting the meals to all the different sites around the Gulf Coast.  A lot of volunteers work all summer long to make this program possible.  And, it makes such a difference for the children who would otherwise go without a lunch three months of the year.

If you would like to find out more about the Summer Food Service Program or the other programs at the Bay Area Food Bank, click here (http://www.bayareafoodbank.org/) .