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| The CenturyLink team takes a break with Rhubarb, the Rainier mascot. |
One in six children
struggles with hunger and many children who rely on school meals, struggle to
get enough to eat during the summer months. This fact is unacceptable to United
Way of Pierce County as well as many local health and human service partners
that are fighting hunger. Together, they are helping to provide kids with
nutritious food at various sites during the summer months (from June 25-August
30).
More than 100 children, families and volunteers turned out for the
kickoff event held at the Drake Apartment complex in Tacoma, sponsored by
CenturyLink. It brought employees from across CenturyLink departments together to learn more and by
rolling up their sleeves to dig into the work—with activities focused on
activities with books and serving food.
“We are glad we
had the opportunity to help United Way celebrate the worldwide Day of Action,
and we had a great time helping the children at the Drake Apartments with
summer learning activities! We are thrilled with this partnership because it
brings home the work that needs to be done to support children and families in
Pierce County.” --Robert Betancourt, Manager, Regional Operations,
CenturyLink.
In addition to offering
free, nutritious meals, several of the sites provide an incentive for children
to participate in summer enrichment programs, which means that children are not
only well fed, but engaged in academic and recreational activities.
“The
Summer Meals program ensures that low-income children continue to receive
nutritious meals when school is not in session,” said Lindsay Morgan Tracy, Vice
President, Community Impact and Engagement for United Way of Pierce County. “Last year,
Summer Meals partners served more than150,000 meals, but because of barriers to
accessing sites, like transportation, limited walkability and awareness, only
20% of the children who qualified for free school meals, were able to
participate in the program.”
Raising awareness and advocating for important food assistance programs
like SNAP are part of the hunger puzzle. Earlier this year, United Way along
with many partners worked with legislators to ensure that Breakfast After
the Bell (House Bill 1508) passed to help address student hunger and increase
family financial stability by making breakfast part of the school day – just
like lunch.
Summer Meals is a federally funded program providing free lunches and
sometimes breakfast and snack, for any child 18 and younger who lives within a
qualified school area or neighborhood area. To qualify, schools must have 50%
or more students signed up for the free and reduced price lunch program.
The majority of sites receive federal reimbursement for qualified
sites. There are challenges with serving schools and neighborhoods where there
are hungry children, but not enough to meet the 50% USDA threshold. Some
nonprofit organizations are using the private pay model to ensure children are fed,
while others partners host serving sites where there are hungry kids, but the
sites do not qualify under USDA guidelines. These sites receive funding through
private donations and grants.
Summer Meals partners are: Bethel School District, Boys & Girls
Clubs, Clover Park School District, Families Unlimited Network, Food Backpacks
4 Kids, Franklin Pierce School District, Metro Parks, Orting Food Bank, Pierce
County Library System, Prairie Ridge Community Center, St. Leo Food Connection,
Sumner School District and YMCA of Pierce & Kitsap Counties.
To learn more,
visit www.piercecountysummermeals.org to find sites, locations, dates
and times or you may call
South Sound 2-1-1 by simply dialing 2-1-1 for more information.
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