Lowcountry Food Bank and partners kick off Summer Eats! program
July 20, 2016
Hundreds of food insecure children to receive summer meals
From July 11th through August 12th, the Lowcountry Food Bank will be offering a special, free “grab-and-go” summer meals program for children in the Greeleyville area. This program is offered as a partnership between Share Our Strength, the Lowcountry Food Bank and Greeleyville Elementary School.
Many families rely on school breakfast and lunch to help ease tight budgets. However, only one out of every five children in South Carolina who are eligible for the school lunch program takes advantage of the free summer meal program. Summer Eats! pilot program aims to reduce participation barriers by delivering meals to convenient community locations. In contrast to the current federal program, this pilot will allow children to take meals home to consume at their convenience. The goal of the program is to help families stretch their resources and encourage children to eat healthy meals this summer so that they return to school ready to learn.
Qualified children will have access to healthy, kid-friendly breakfasts and prepared suppers available for pick up each weekday during the program period. Children will also receive a “Backpack Buddies” bag of healthy, nonperishable snacks to consume over the weekend. Currently, there are 229 children enrolled in the program, which exceeds the maximum of 200 children, thus all additional children over the current enrollment will be placed on a wait list.
The community pick up sites include:
St. Matthews Baptist Church 597 Council Rd., Salters, SC 29590
Q Ball Community Site 789 Burgess Rd. Greeleyville, SC 29056
Pine Grove Church 1436 River Rd. Greeleyville, SC 29056
Tender Bears Day Learning Center 23 Singleton Lane Greeleyville. SC 29056
Montgomery Day Care Center 208 Leah’s Loop Greeleyville, SC 29056
Greeleyville Elementary School 7 Varner Ave. Greeleyville, SC 29056
Lane Chapel Church 6996 Seaboard Rd. Lane, SC 29564
Biblical Christian Church 186 Leah’s Loop Greeleyville, SC 29056
Union Baptist Church 216 Union Church Rd. Salters, SC 29590
Gracefully Yours Salon 1533 Marion Church Road Salters, SC 29590
“Summer feeding programs are vital for many of our children who rely on free or reduced price school meals throughout the school year,” shares Lowcountry Food Bank President and CEO, Pat Walker. “We want Greeleyville families to know that this program is here for them and to understand how easy it is to find a site for their children.”
About the Lowcountry Food Bank
The Lowcountry Food Bank serves the 10 coastal counties of South Carolina and distributes more than 21 million pounds of food a year. The Lowcountry Food Bank is a clearinghouse for donated food products that are distributed to a network of nearly 300 member agencies including soup kitchens, homeless shelters and emergency food pantries. The Lowcountry Food Bank is a member of Feeding America and is committed to educating the public about the problems of and solutions to domestic hunger as well as advocating on the behalf of the hungry in our community.
