The Greater Chicago Food Depository’s Lunch Bus program distributes summer meals in Cook County, Illinois.
As we mark the beginning of summer – and the end of classes for Chicago Public School students – there’s one question I know is on the mind of far too many children in our community:
Will I eat today?
No child should ever ask themselves that question. But it happens far too often – and during the summer, the need is greatest.
That’s because when classes end, thousands of children in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs no longer receive the free and reduced-price meals they’ve been eating at school. The meals that hard working, low-income parents rely on to help nourish their children are gone, and many families can’t fill the gap. That means kids in our community go hungry.
And when children don’t have enough food to eat, they can’t grow up healthy and strong. A hungry summer means children lack the energy to play outside with friends, to read their favorite books, to be themselves. And more importantly, a hungry summer means kids aren’t well-rested and nourished when school resumes in the fall.
Nationally, only 15 of every 100 children who receive free or reduced-price school meals utilize summer meals, according to the Food Resource and Action Center. And in Cook County, Illinois, the need is even higher. Sixty-nine percent of eligible children received free or reduced-price meals at school. Yet, when the final bell rings and summer begins, only 12 percent of those children utilize summer meals. That’s a staggering number of children who aren’t getting enough to eat.
But there are free meals available. Thanks to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), administered locally by the Illinois State Board of Education and operated by hundreds of summer meal sponsors, including the Greater Chicago Food Depository, kids in our community can access food to fill that summer gap. In fact, last year Chicago meal sponsors distributed nearly 2.8 million meals to children. And yet, there is so much more work to be done.
To truly end summer hunger, partners from the public and private sectors must work together to build awareness. Meals are available for every child in need this summer. But, frustratingly, many of those meals will go unclaimed simply because parents don’t know where meals are located – or worse – that they’re available at all.
The Food Depository works with Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI), a nonprofit focused on family-centered organizing, to raise awareness of summer meals in high-need communities. Teams of parents go door-to-door handing out flyers and talking to parents about free summer meals available near them. Afterwards, these communities see a significant spike in summer meals participation.
If such a grassroots effort can have an impact, imagine the effect of broader awareness. This summer, we need everyone to spread the word about summer meals. We need state and federal lawmakers to visit meal sites so they understand the importance of the program. We need local officials in every community to connect families with summer meals by sharing information on social media, at meetings and in their offices.
Most importantly, we need our community as a whole to step up. We need neighbors to tell neighbors, friends to tell friends. We must start a summer meals movement and the only way to do that is to work together – toward a day when every child has the food they need to thrive.
Let’s change the conversation this summer. Instead of kids wondering, “Will I eat today?” Let’s provide stability, joy and hope with summer meals.
Let’s make sure kids know: “I will eat today.”