Free Summer Meal Sites Available for Children 18 and Younger

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 16, 2023 — During the summer months, thousands of low-income children in our community face increased risk of hunger when they lose access to the free meals they receive during the school year. With food insecurity on the rise again due to the end of pandemic-era CalFresh benefits, layoffs, as well as record-high housing and food prices, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is working to raise awareness of the federally-funded summer meals program so every child who needs a nutritious meal can receive one.

Any child 18 or younger can get a free nutritious meal at summer meal sites in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties with no advance registration or documentation required. Select locations will additionally offer free breakfast and afternoon snacks for children. The food bank is collaborating with school districts, libraries, community centers, summer camps, social service organizations and other nonprofits to promote the meals being served at their sites from June until the second week of August. This year, meals must be eaten on site.

To make it easy for families to find a summer meals location near them, Second Harvest has launched a free summer meals locator tool on its website. Families can go to www.shfb.org/mealsforkids/ and enter their address, city or zip code. A map with icons will show the closest summer meals sites with real-time updates to reflect schedule changes. When users click on the icon, they see location details, meal times and contact information. At some sites, parents and guardians are also eligible to receive low to no-cost meals to eat alongside their children.

“Free summer meals are especially important during this time of increased need in our community when we see more families tightening their food budgets in response to inflation, rising food costs and recent cuts to their CalFresh benefits,” said Leslie Bacho, CEO of Second Harvest. “Many of the most vulnerable members of our community, including the 1 in 3 kids in Silicon Valley who are at risk of food insecurity, are being impacted by economic and policy changes that are outside of their control and we want to do everything we can to ensure they have the nutritious food they need to grow and thrive during the summer and all year around.”

Summer meals help kids thrive
Summer meals are important because studies show that kids who don’t get enough nutritious food to eat have trouble concentrating, are sick more often, and are more likely to suffer emotional and physical effects that can last a lifetime. They are also at risk for what educators call the “summer slide,” where students lose ground academically when they are not in school.

The federally funded Summer Food Service Program is designed to replace school breakfast and lunch, filling a nutrition gap that exists for thousands of children during the summer. Funded through the USDA Food and Nutrition Service and administered by the state, the Summer Food Service Program reimburses lunch providers like schools, libraries and summer camps that serve free healthy meals and snacks to children and teens in low-income areas.

For more information about Free summer meals or food assistance:
In addition to the summer meals locator tool online, families who need help finding a site serving summer meals near them can text “Summer” for English, “Verano” for Spanish, “Muahe” for Vietnamese, “夏天” for Chinese or “Лeto” for Russian to 876-876. For help accessing other food resources and assistance, call Second Harvest’s multilingual Food Connection hotline at 800-984-3663 or visit www.shfb.org/getfood to use the Food Locator tool to find free grocery sites.

실리콘밸리의 세컨드 하베스트(Second Harvest of Silicon Valley)에 대하여

1974년에 설립된 Second Harvest of Silicon Valley는 미국 최대 규모의 푸드 뱅크 중 하나이며 지역 기아 종식에 있어 신뢰받는 비영리 리더입니다. 이 조직은 산타클라라 및 산마테오 카운티 전역의 900개 이상의 장소에서 약 400명의 파트너 네트워크를 통해 영양가 있는 식품을 배포합니다. 실리콘 밸리의 엄청나게 비싼 생활비와 팬데믹 시대 정부 지원의 급격한 감소로 인해 Second Harvest는 매달 평균 약 500,000명에게 서비스를 제공하고 있습니다. Second Harvest는 또한 사람들을 연방 영양 프로그램 및 기타 식량 자원에 연결하고 지역, 주 및 국가 차원의 기아 방지 정책을 옹호합니다. Second Harvest가 실리콘 밸리의 엄청난 수요에 어떻게 대응하고 있는지 자세히 알아보려면 shfb.org를 방문하세요.

If you are a member of the media covering issues related to hunger in Silicon Valley, we can provide expert spokespeople who can talk about the local landscape.

Media please contact Diane Baker Hayward at dbakerhayward@shfb.org 또는 408-266-8866, 내선 368.

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