Danielle, one of the HIP Summer Meals AmeriCorps interns, wrote this blog post explaining how the Summer Meals Program work and her experience in working at HIP this summer.
I always looked forward to family meals as a child. I am the youngest in a family of six children, and meals were an opportunity for everyone in my family to sit down, reconnect, and catch up. One in five children in America miss out on this precious time. When children are out of school for the summer their families will spend on average an extra $300 on groceries; this could mean making the choice between having food or electricity in your household. Luckily, there are food programs and Summer Meal sites throughout the country to aid in ending summer hunger.
Danielle and Olivia doing door to door outreach to spread the word about Summer Meals
Summer Meal sites must be located in an area where at least 50% of the children are eligible for free or reduced lunch. These sites are run by sponsors who have been approved by the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). They include private non-profit organizations, schools, camps and units of government. Sites can be found here; as you look you can see that there are almost 700 in Washington State alone. A number of these sites are staffed by eighty of the most passionate AmeriCorps Vista Summer Associates you can find. Affectionately referred to as the “A-team” by the United Way of King County, these Vistas were selected to see the One Million Meals Campaign through in its second and final year to serve the youth of King County with one million meals. Through United Way the Vistas are trained not only to serve food, but to provide children with educational activities to cut back on summer learning loss, an unfortunate educational trend that can set a child three weeks behind their peers at the start of the new school year. After training, Vistas are sent to work with various sponsors in the Seattle area. Six of these Vistas, myself included, have spent their summer making food, planning activities and reaching out to communities with the Hunger Intervention Program (HIP). We have served over 5,500 meals this summer with more to come!
Danielle getting ready to carry the food to her meal site – Jackson Park Village
As the site monitor at Jackson Park Village, I have had the privilege of befriending many of the children in the community while serving meals, leading activities, and reading books out loud. I began my summer with a few frequent visitors, and now have a daily crew of about 25 kids. They are just a fraction of the children that will benefit from the Summer Meals program. The United Way of King County alone has aspirations of feeding over 600,000 meals this summer in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the SFSP, who reimburses the sponsors for the cost of the meals they serve.
One of the many perks of working with HIP is that I also get to serve meals to parents. Over the summer I have been able to provide parents and children with nutritious meals that they can enjoy as a family. Parents do not always take meals, but often come out to watch their children play, sit down with them, or meet with other parents in the community.
Approximately 100,000 families suffer from food insecurity in Seattle, but 100% of families can benefit from the Summer Meals program. Regardless of how full your pantry is, EVERYONE needs good food, so be sure to check out your closest meal site (especially Jackson Park!). After all, the most important meal of the day is one you share with friends and family- when you sit down, reconnect, and catch up!
For further information on how Summer Meals works check out these sites:
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