America's Second Harvest Joins USDA in Summer Meal Initiative

America's Second Harvest
Monday, 4 March 2002

For the one in five children who face hunger in our country, summer is a mixed blessing. Sixty-eight percent of soup kitchens report dramatic increases in the number of children they serve in the summer. Two-thirds of the children America's Second Harvest emergency agencies serve participate in the school lunch program but only14 percent receive lunch during the summer.

"While many of our community and school-based agencies already provide structured summer programs that include meals and hearty snacks as a major component, we look forward to partnering with USDA to expand the Summer Food Service Program," said Martha Pickett, chief operating officer of America's Second Harvest.

The initiative announced today will streamline summer feeding programs and increase the ability of community-based organizations, schools, park districts, local governments, and faith-based charities to benefit from the federal assistance. As the nation's largest direct service hunger-relief organization, America's Second Harvest is pleased to partner with USDA, the Food Research and Action Center and the American School Food Service Association to expand public/private/charitable partnerships designed to improve access for hungry children to nutritious summer meals.

Last summer, America's Second Harvest joined ConAgra Foods Feeding Children Better and the Ad Council to implement a three-year public service campaign that increased public awareness of the challenges facing children and their families in the summer. This season, the public awareness efforts will also include publicizing this important partnership and providing information to parents seeking summer meal programs for their children.

For more information, or to contact America's Second Harvest, see their website at: www.secondharvest.org