Kids Hungriest in the Summer

But Program Meets Only a Tenth of the Need

July 25, 2001 -  A new report released by the Children's Alliance shows that while 300,000 school children qualify for free or reduced priced school meals, less than a tenth receive free meals in the summer.  The report shows that the federal Summer Food Service Program designed thirty years ago to alleviate childhood hunger in the summer is highly under-utilized in Washington State.  Participation in the program has slightly declined since last year, serving fewer children.  While Washington's 572 sites serve meals to approximately 10% (28,000-30,000 on any given day) of Washington's low-income children, states like New Mexico and California feed up to 35% of their needy children.  David Westerman, a Summer Food Program sponsor in Shelton said, "You can see kids on Monday after a weekend who haven't eaten and it's gratifying to see that kids get food."  Lisa Paradise from Pasco School district commented, "Our program helps to ensure that nutritious meals reach kids even when school is out.  this is especially appreciated by our hard-working, yet poor, families who come to rely on the cost savings during the school year."

   The Summer food Program also helps local economies.  Schools, non-profits and public agencies sponsor the Summer Food Service Program and receive reimbursements for meal service from the federal government.  Program sponsors are reimbursed at $2.46 per lunch and $1.40 for breakfast.  Organizations in Washington will draw down up to $2 million in federal funds this summer.  However, this figure draws a sharp contrast to how much money could be brought in to Washington.  If only 50% of Washington's eligible children were served free lunches in the summer communities could draw down an additional $369,000 per summer day for Washington's children.

   "These funds translate into jobs for food service workers and revenue for depressed economic areas," says Shelley Curtis, Nutrition Outreach Coordinator for the Children's Alliance.

   Dr. Jerry Simon of the Ephrata School District talks about his district's motivation to start a new program this year, "If kids are hungry in our community then it is our responsibility to take advantage of the opportunity to serve them breakfast and lunch."  Some districts have gone to extra lengths to meet the needs of migrant children, "Our school district's program picks up migrant kids from the local orchard and brings them each day to the day care facilities at 5AM," says Kent Getzin at Wenatchee School District, "They get two good meals a day and have fun in a safe environment away from the orchards."

   While the Summer Food Program has grown by 47% in Washington since 1993, growth has not been swift enough to meet the need.  The report cites transportation and funding as key barriers to program growth and expansion.  The Children's Alliance works with communities to overcome barriers to start new programs and worked to leverage $40,000 in new funds this year to support food and constructive activities for youth in rural areas.

   Participation in counties varies greatly.  Strong participation (19%) was recorded in Franklin County and Columbia County that reached 34% of children who qualify.  In Adams and Grant Counties participation was weaker, where up to 4% of eligible children were reached.  However, new programs have been started this summer across the state in communities such as Mattawa, Cheney, Quincy, Oakville and Federal Way.

   The Alliance operates a a toll-free multilingual Summer Food hotline to connect families to free meal programs in their areas.  The Alliance also uses the hotline to determine areas of need.  In the last two weeks of June over 1,000 calls were received by the hotline from families who were looking for free meal programs.

   Last week's national report from the Food Research Action Council (www.frac.org) ranked Washington 29 in its participation in the Summer Food Service Program.  The US Department of Agriculture runs the Summer Food Program and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction administers the program in Washington.

For more information contact Laura Strickler at the Children's Alliance.  To download the reports go to www.childrensalliance.org.