New & Innovative Programs Serve More Children Summer Meals

Published On: July 11th, 2017By Categories: Miscellaneous1.5 min read

In San Diego County, more than 125,000 kids receive free or reduced priced breakfasts and lunches during the school year.  These meals are essential to the health and well-being of the students ensuring that they have the fuel they need to learn and grow.

In the summer when school is out, many kids face the reality of hunger as they no longer have access to the meals they would receive during a school day. To meet this need, Feeding San Diego sponsors the distribution of free meals for kids and teens during the summer months through the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).  We are now sponsoring the distribution of meals at 14 fixed locations including schools, libraries, and clinics. This summer we began a new partnership with North County Health Services allowing children to receive meals at their San Marcos and Ramona locations in San Diego County.

In addition to our fixed Summer Food Service Program sites,  we also launched a new mobile summer meals program. Our pilot Mobile Meals program allows FSD to continue to fight summer hunger and extend our outreach further in San Diego County onto Indian Reservations.  We are now offering breakfast on the Santa Ysabel Reservation and lunch on the Pala Reservation daily to both kids and adults.  Additionally, we have partnered with Inter Tribal Sports to offer free lunches to kids and teens at Tuesday and Thursday softball games during the league’s summer season.  Inter Tribal Sports brings together kids from 22 tribal communities and allows them to get involved in different sports in a semi-competitive environment.

Feeding San Diego is continuing to create new, innovative ways to fight child hunger. We are excited to see how these programs and partnerships will evolve and grow in the coming years.