Hunger doesn’t take a summer break, and neither do the people who fight it.
All summer long, people connected to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida – employees, volunteers, donors, supporters and community partners – all have been working to make sure local kids have healthy, nutritious meals while school is out.
These are a few of the voices telling the story of how they are fighting hunger this summer, meeting the moment and filling the gaps left from kids missing school-provided breakfasts and lunches.
Quinn
Quinn fights summer hunger by making sure the kids in his summer program are fed healthy meals every weekday.
Midway Safe Harbor in Sanford offers a summer camp program and is also a Summer BreakSpot site. The 150 kids who attend the program there are served breakfast and lunch every day at camp, and any kids 18 and younger can also drop in for a free meal.
As site facilitator of Midway, Quinn coordinates and supervises all the mealtimes – everything from communicating with Second Harvest to passing out meals to opening fruit cups and milk cartons.
“I’m making sure kids eat while they’re here,” Quinn said. “I’m thankful for Second Harvest filling in the gap for us all year.”
He said he grew up in Midway and wants to take care of his community.
“I see my role as a resource vehicle,” Quinn said. “Parents come to me for resources. I tell people about Second Harvest, during the summer and always.”
Quinn sees his impact on the community through providing safe childcare and feeding the kids.
“It allows the parents to be able to work and provide for their children and the household,” he said. “And I’m able to educate without worrying about them being hungry. A hungry belly don’t learn. It’s too worried about what it will eat next.”
Rashid
Rashid fights summer hunger by volunteering his time packing meals at Mercy Kitchen.
He started to volunteer to get the community service hours he needed to apply to dental school, but the Mercy Kitchen staff and the impact he was making has kept him coming back.
“I started to enjoy it,” Rashid says. “I like giving back. I'm helping other people. I may not be able to see it directly, but I'm helping, doing the work here.”
Since starting his volunteer journey in January, Rashid has contributed more than 320 hours. He volunteers three mornings a week, packing meals and snacks for kids in the Central Florida community.
“I'm now a part of the team that is helping feed the children,” he says. “They're like the same kid that I used to be when I was in school.”
Each meal Rashid packs this summer makes sure that Central Florida kids have the food they need to grow and thrive.
Josh
As a program manager for No Kid Hungry Florida, Josh fights summer hunger by working to build relationships with community organizations and school districts to expand access to meal programs for kids. During the summer, No Kid Hungry supports partners like Second Harvest, to enhance programs and ensure kids continue to have access to nutritious meals, even when school is out.
This summer, No Kid Hungry awarded Second Harvest with a grant to help operate its rural, non-congregate summer food service program, for which mobile distributions are utilized instead of the traditional dine-in summer meal sites.
“(The rural model) provides families with additional access to nutritious meals at a convenient site,” Josh explained. “It’s innovative strategies like this that truly make a difference.”
The No Kid Hungry grant funds help provide operational support, including software, transportation and essential supplies, like insulated food carriers and folding tables that help make it possible to distribute food to kids living in rural communities.
“Summer is one of the most challenging times for kids, especially those in rural communities where transportation and distance create barriers to access,” he said.
Laura
Chef Laura fights summer hunger by creating a kid-friendly menu and overseeing the packing of thousands of meals each day at Mercy Kitchen.
As Mercy Kitchen’s Chef de Cuisine, Laura and her team interviewed kids in the community to build this summer’s menu, while keeping in mind nutritional guidelines.
“We like certain things, but maybe 10-year-olds won’t,” Laura says. “So, we really had to look and see what would be attractive to kids’ palates.”
Laura understands firsthand how summertime without school-provided meals puts an extra financial strain on families.
“When I divorced a couple of years ago, it was right before summer, and that was my first shock of life,” Laura shared. “Without the combined income, summer feeding programs were a tremendous help to me to get through that first summer of being alone with my kids. So, I connect my experience to what other kids might be going through this summer.”
Each day, Laura supervises the meal-packing lines and keeps them running smoothly, knowing that each meal makes a difference for kids.
“I know at least once a day, twice a day, they're getting good food into their bellies and that’s very, very special,” Laura said.
