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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
Summer Food
Service Programs: Ensuring Ohio Children Don’t Go Hungry
With so many families struggling to make ends meet, many Ohio children
are living in “food insecure” households, where parents don’t always
have the resources to provide enough healthy food for their families.
During the 2012-2013 school year, 630,000 Ohio children daily received
free or reduced-priced school lunches through the National School Lunch
Program, ensuring their healthy development and easing the burden on
their families. When schools close for summer, however, these families
are left wondering how to continue to provide meals for their children.
Fortunately, through the Summer Food Service Program, children can
receive breakfast, lunch, or a snack at sites across Ohio.
The Summer Food Service Program, a joint venture of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) and the Ohio Department of Education, provides a
critical resource to families who need assistance feeding their
children but many families don’t know it’s available. Right now, these
sites are underutilized. Last summer, only 66,000 Ohio children daily
participated in the program, compared to the hundreds of thousands who
do so during the school year. Food security doesn’t increase simply
because it is summer. What this means is that children are going
without. And that is unacceptable.
If you find that your children need meal assistance, I urge you to
participate in this program. You can also be a resource to your friends
and neighbors, helping raise awareness about the nearly 1,700 summer
camps, schools, churches, synagogues, pools and recreation centers, and
other organizations that host Summer Feeding Program sites in Ohio.
Healthy, well-fed children are essential to a strong community and we
must ensure that children have the resources they need to thrive both
while during the school-year and on summer break.
To find a Summer Food Service Program in your county, please click
here. Families can also call the National Hunger Hotline at
1-866-3HUNGRY for assistance in English and 1-877-8HAMBRE for
assistance in Spanish.
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