Sunshine. Swimming pools. Swing sets. For most kids, summer is the happiest time of the year.
But for those in need who depend on school meals, there’s something missing each summer: food. Without food, there’s no summer fun. There’s just anxiety and empty bellies.
For these kids, summer is the hungriest time of the year.
Take Caleb, for instance. Food can be scarce at home for the Florida first-grader. Like millions of kids in America, he relies on a free, nutritious breakfast and lunch at school each day. When the last bell of the school year rings, many kids like Caleb may not know where their next meal is coming from, and they simply might not get it.
That’s why No Kid Hungry supports summer meals sites at community centers, libraries and schools nationwide, where kids can eat free over the break. We’re even pioneering mobile food trucks and other new programs to feed kids in hard-to-reach, rural corners of the country.
Whether in hands-on guidance to start an effective program or grant funding to get refrigerators and other critical equipment, we’re working with principals, teachers, school districts and community leaders to ensure all the Calebs out there get the food they need for a healthy season.
What’s more, we’re connecting kids with meals through our innovative, free texting service. Families can simply text ‘food’ or ‘comida’ to 304-304 to find the nearest summer meals site. No registration needed; it’s just healthy food for kids who need it.
Since its launch three years ago, more than a million families have already used our texting service to find food for their kids. Thanks to our corporate partners and supporters, we hope to get the texting number to even more families this summer through our national public service announcement campaign.
But we need your help.
When you donate to No Kid Hungry, you make these summer programs and services possible. Just $1 can connect a child with up to ten summer meals. But that $1 can provide so much more. When kids like Caleb can count on healthy meals, they don’t have to worry about food. They don’t have to dwell on a growling stomach. Instead, they can just be kids.
You can help put the food, sunshine, swimming pools and swing sets back into summer for kids like Caleb. Donate today.
