GLEN SPEY — The Regional Food Bank announced its seasonal free food initiative, Student Summer Meal Kit, on June 24 at George Ross Mackenzie Elementary School in Glen Spey. The goal is to feed more than 600 children during the summer months to make up for the missing meals when school is out of session.
Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the program supports low-income families in rural communities facing food insecurity and high grocery and transportation expenses. It will cover 18 school districts in nine counties, including Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan and Rockland.
The event was attended by Regional Food Bank CEO Thomas Nardacci, Eldred Central School District Superintendent Traci Ferriera, school counselor Michelle Gallo, school nurse Tracy Whitney, Assemblywoman Paula Kay and Sullivan 180 CEO Denise Frangipane.
“In Sullivan County, 20% of children, which is one out of five, face food insecurity,” said Ferriera. “In our small district, 40% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch. These summer meal kits will go a long way to helping our families.”
Nardacci emphasized the importance of nutrition, freshness and tastiness of the food samples, “equitable access,” and the crucial community partnerships that aid the initiative, such as Sullivan 180, which co-piloted the meal kit program.
A weekly backpack of nutritious food throughout the school year for children in need and a mobile farmstand are the other programs launched at schools by the food bank. The backpack program covers over 8,000 children per week, according to Nardacci.
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one,” said Frangipane, quoting Mother Teresa.
When does the program begin?
The meal distribution initiative will go until the end of June, lasting for about 10 weeks. The meal kits with seven breakfasts and seven lunches will be mailed weekly to the families. Cereal, cheese, chicken nuggets, fruit, juice, milk and pasta are some of the items listed in the kid-friendly selection.
The families are referred to RFB by the participating schools in Hudson Valley.
Sullivan County school districts in the Meal Kit program are Eldred (53 children), Rockland (20 children) and Sullivan West (33 children).
The following schools are participating in the Summer Backpack Program:
“Food insecurity is an issue that doesn’t end, as it has been said here, when the school year ends,” Kay said, “we also know that collaboration, working together, is the only way to make things happen. We have to take care of kids all year round, 24/7, and make sure that they have what they need to be successful, and this is an extraordinary way to do that.”
Contact reporter Vandana Saras at vsaras@usatodayco.com and @orangecountynyreporter on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Regional Food Bank launches summer meal program for Hudson Valley students
Reporting by Vandana Saras, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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By Vandana Saras, Middletown Times Herald- Record | USA TODAY Network
