City Parks and Recreation Department Receives $50,000 Grant to Support Summer Feeding Program

 GREENVILLE, SC – August 2, 2010 – The City of Greenville Parks and Recreation Department, in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), has received a $50,000 grant to support its food service program in Greenville. The gift is part of a $2.1 million grant NRPA received from the Walmart Foundation to support summer feeding programs in up to 30 park and recreation agencies across the U.S., serving an estimated 4.9 million meals to children in 2010 and 2011.

Over a period of two years, the City Parks and Recreation Department will use the funding to increase the number of children fed in Greenville by 20 percent. The department will begin implementing the program this summer at its five community centers by serving breakfast and lunch, purchasing refrigerators and freezers to store more food and adding tables and chairs to accommodate the increase of children.

According to Community Programs Manager Jan Cox, the grant provides the City with the perfect opportunity to reach out to a larger number of children within the Greenville community, ensuring that they receive nutritious meals.

“Our goal is to become a community resource for fighting childhood hunger and obesity,” said Cox. “We believe that our relationships with the Greenville community and our partners will help provide for a solid and sustainable foundation for the future.”

A report released in 2009 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that an estimated 49 million Americans struggle to get enough healthy food to eat, and it’s estimated that one in four children are at risk of food insecurity in the U.S. During the summer months, the number of children that receive free or reduced-price federally-sponsored meals drops about 80 percent to that of the school year, from roughly 17 million to 2.9 million children.

Greenville’s summer feeding program is open to all children living within the community center districts. Children do not need to be registered for the summer camp program to receive meals at the centers. For additional information about the program or the City’s community centers, visit www.greenvillesc.gov/ParksRec/CommunityCenter.