A release from MANNA....
"The end of the spring school term last June was a welcome break to many school children, but for an estimated 28,000 kids across our mountain region, the summer break meant no more school breakfast or lunch until fall. Except in Madison County, that is, where the Rev. Tommy Justice; a volunteer steering committee; members of the congregation; and many other volunteers from Beech Glen Baptist Church and Forks Ivey Baptist Church stepped in to make a difference.
"Taking advantage of the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which allows local organizations to sponsor feeding programs, MANNA has been a strong advocate for SFSP for several years but became an SFSP Sponsor for the first time this summer.As a participating organization, MANNA FoodBank was reimbursed for start-up costs and a portion of the cost of meals served to eligible children. There were 11 such summer food sites for kids in Madison County, but nowhere near enough to meet the need.
Hunger Doesn’t Take a Summer Break
“ 'It was a no-brainer,' said Rev. Justice of the collaboration with MANNA FoodBank and the Summer Food Service Program. 'We knew we had hungry children, and we knew MANNA could help us get organized and get food to these kids.'
"Beth Stahl, MANNA’s youth programs coordinator, noted that while the Mars Hill Summer Food Service Program took some effort to get up and running, it was worth every bit of effort. “I couldn’t have dreamed of a more enthusiastic and determined community of volunteers unwilling to let kids go hungry over the summer,” Stahl said. The first-year program resulted in 5451 meals being served to 564 children over the summer until school began again in late August.
“ 'This was just one community in just one county in Western North Carolina,' notes Kitty Schaller, executive director of MANNA FoodBank. 'While the good folks from Mars Hill did an exemplary job, many more children throughout Western North Carolina are going hungry during the summer months, and the resources are there to feed more kids with the help of more community organizations.' MANNA FoodBank helps to provide food to agencies in 16 Western North Carolina counties and needs help from folks in each one of them.
"To that end, MANNA is recruiting volunteers now to sponsor Summer Food Service Program sites next summer, in an effort to help kids who are food insecure bridge the summer gap. Meals can be prepared on-site if the kitchen is adequately equipped, or sponsors may contract with a vendor to purchase prepared box meals.
“ 'More than $7.6 million of SFSP funding statewide – and more than $1 million in WNC alone - is lost because of lack of participation -- just left on the table in Washington, so to speak,' Schaller notes. 'It is imperative that more people and organizations become involved in the Summer Food Service Program to help provide much needed food to children during the long summer months.'
What You Can Do
"Organize. Sponsor a Summer Food Service Program in your community. Churches, civic and school clubs can adopt a school. Contact Beth Stahl at 828-299-FOOD (3663), x231 to learn how.
"Volunteer. Help MANNA Packs for Kids by volunteering to drive your van, SUV, or MANNA's van or small truck and deliver the food to school sites – or ride along to help a driver unload the MANNA Packs. Contact Beth Stahl at 828-299-FOOD (3663), x231 to learn more.
"Unite. Join MANNA FoodBank and Feeding America in taking action nationally to help stop hunger. Sign up at hungeraction.org. Urge full funding for the Childhood Nutrition Reauthorization Act, which provides essential funding for WIC (Women, Infants and Children), school breakfast and lunch programs, and other child nutrition programs which are being re-authorized for the next 5 years.
"Lobby. Contact federal and state lawmakers and ask them to make the SFSP application and reporting process smoother for those who want to organize a summer food service site. For a list of contacts, go to MANNAFoodBank.org."
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