Every child should have access to the nutritious food they need. Yet, food insecurity affects 1 in 6 kids in Central Florida, impacting their physical and mental health and development.
This problem intensifies over the summer.
Approximately 467,000 kids in Central Florida rely on free or reduced-priced school meals during the year. The additional cost of groceries in the summer, when kids are home from school, can be too much for some budgets.
Thousands of families in Central Florida live paycheck to paycheck. Higher prices for gas and essentials are already forcing families to make financial trade-offs.
When summer arrives, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida works alongside a network of feeding partners to get nutritious food to feeding partners and summer meal sites across seven counties.
These feeding partners are on the front lines of the fight against hunger this summer, distributing food directly to neighbors through mobile food distributions and emergency food pantries, like New Heart Christian Center in Daytona Beach.
A lot of school-aged children live in the neighborhood around the center. Its food pantry coordinator, Cathy, said many do not have access to transportation to get to summer programs and are at home all day while school is out.
For children, access to nutritious food is a necessity year-round, and summer hunger can limit their potential and well-being. As a retired special education paraprofessional, Cathy saw firsthand what it looks like when a child lacks nutritious food.
“The lack of food hurts,” she said. “It can slow the growth of knowledge. Hunger has an impact on the way a child learns. It’s hard to sleep when you’re hungry. It affects your body and mind.”
To combat summer hunger, Cathy is increasing the amount of food she picks up from the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida to prepare for the anticipated increase in food assistance needs this summer.
“The parents have expressed it throughout the school year that it’s hard to make ends meet and purchase food, specifically meat,” Cathy said. “This year, we’re ready with extra food to help even more people get through summer. Summers are hard. I had four kids and having them all home at once during the summer was tough. They need to be fed breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner.”
Healthy snacks are where she’s focusing on a lot of her efforts this year.
“When kids are home, they snack throughout the day,” Cathy said. “Parents want healthy snacks and not junk food. We’re going to provide apples, bananas, grapes, breakfast bars, and more.”
Another area of focus this summer is protein. Cathy has asked the church members to support the pantry with non-perishable donations, such as dried or canned beans, noodles, and other items that can help stretch meat for big families.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for our neighbors to get food that goes a long way this summer,” she explained. “Money is not plentiful, but they still have to figure out a way to put food on the table. Our goal is for those who come to our door to walk away saying, ‘I will make it through this week.’”
Second Harvest works with 800 feeding partners like New Heart to distribute food and grocery products to kids, families and seniors in Brevard, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties.
Together, we are creating a future where every child is nourished, safe and thriving. You can make a difference in this fight against hunger this summer by volunteering your time, hosting a food and fund drive or making a financial gift. Every action helps ensure more kids have the meals they need to grow, learn and succeed.
