Provide a hunger-free summer to children in Western Mass.

By Andrew Morehouse, Executive Director

By now, you’ve probably heard the national news about a public school kitchen manager in Colorado who was fired for giving a free lunch to a crying first graderwho was hungry. The manager was fired because the child wasn’t officially qualified for the federally-subsidized lunch program. However, what you may not have heard is that, right now, thousands of kids in schools across Western Massachusetts are in this same situation. They are relying on cafeteria staff, teachers and even their classmates to feed them because they don’t have enough food at home.

While it’s hard to believe that this could happen here, I hear stories like this all the time. Just last week a concerned Amherst parent shared this with me:

“My daughter is providing snacks to her fellow students with food insecurity issues. I am VERY proud of my daughter who has the biggest heart and is trying to take care of her peers. But, what is very unsettling is that there are several students at the Amherst Middle School (ARMS) who cannot get enough food to eat — even if they are entitled to free breakfasts and lunches.  I know this problem is not only at ARMS. This is not a new problem. I was made aware of the problem at the Pelham Elementary School when one of the teachers mentioned that many teachers need to provide snacks (at the teachers’ personal expense) for children in their classes due to food insecurity in their homes.My daughter is providing snacks to her fellow students with food insecurity issues. I am VERY proud of my daughter who has the biggest heart and is trying to take care of her peers. But, what is very unsettling is that there are several students at the Amherst Middle School (ARMS) who cannot get enough food to eat — even if they are entitled to free breakfasts and lunches.  I know this problem is not only at ARMS. This is not a new problem. I was made aware of the problem at the Pelham Elementary School when one of the teachers mentioned that many teachers need to provide snacks (at the teachers’ personal expense) for children in their classes due to food insecurity in their homes.”

With so many families struggling with free or reduced school meals, imagine the challenges they face in the summer when those meals disappear.  June, July and August are, by far, the busiest months for the 231 local feeding programs in our four-county region that receive most of their food from The Food Bank.  Help us provide healthy food to our neighbors in need.

Approximately 44,665 individuals, including children, received food and averted hunger, during those three months last year. That’s nearly a 45% increase over the winter months of December, January and February.

The Food Bank and our region’s network of local feeding programs are ramping up to distribute more healthy food to these households this summer, providing critical relief to thousands. Through our Mobile Food Bank, we will distribute food (including fresh local produce) directly to households with children in neighborhoods in our region with the highest levels of food insecurity.  In the last 12 months, we have fed an average of 2,143 children every month at ten distribution sites in Hampden, Hampshire and Berkshire counties.

None of this is possible without you. Please consider a gift today. Together, we can ensure that children in our region can look forward to a summer filled with picnics, swimming, and baseball — not hunger.

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