One in four children in Georgia faces hunger. When schools are closed for summer, kids who rely on free or reduced-price school breakfast and lunch have less access to nutritious meals that they need to grow and thrive. This is why Feeding America®, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization, and Conagra Brands Foundation have partnered to provide more meals to kids when they need them most through the Hunger-Free Summer program. The Atlanta Community Food Bank, a Feeding America member, is one of 25 food banks that have received a Hunger-Free Summer grant, funded by the Conagra Brands Foundation.
The Hunger-Free Summer grant will enable the organization to provide more summer meals by opening new sites from June-August and will support our School Pantry Program in the upcoming school year. The School Pantry Program is a child hunger initiative that helps to make sure low-income families have a readily accessible source of healthy and nutritious food to prepare at home.
“The summer months are not easy for many low-income families,” said Kyle Waide, President & CEO of Atlanta Community Food Bank. “When school ends, so does access to school meals that families and rely on. The Conagra Brands Foundation’s Hunger-Free Summer grant allows us support more families in Metro Atlanta and North Georgia during the summer months by helping to ensure that children have access to healthy meals.”
Across the country, 22 million children receive free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program. When school is out during the summer, less than four million children receive meals through the USDA Summer Food Service Program. This dramatic decline during the summer is due to a lack of access to meal sites, insufficient program awareness and limited resources.
“Children should not have to worry about where they’ll find next meal. But this is the case for millions of children across the country during the summer months. Conagra Brands Foundation is proud to partner with the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks to address and reduce the significant issue of food insecurity across the country,” says Robert Rizzo, Conagra Brands Foundation.
For the eighth consecutive summer, more than 20 communities across the country will have support to strengthen their summer feeding programs from Conagra Brands Foundation which has been a dedicated supporter of Feeding America and the fight against child hunger for over 20 years. This is the Atlanta Community Food Bank’s second time receiving this grant.
To learn more about summer hunger or find a summer feeding site in your community, visit acfb.org or text FOODGA to 877-877.
About the Atlanta Community Food Bank
The Atlanta Community Food Bank works to end hunger with the food, people and big ideas needed to ensure our neighbors have the nourishment to lead healthy and productive lives. Far too many people in our own community experience hunger every day, including children, seniors and working families.
Through more than 600 nonprofit partners, we help more than 755,000 people get healthy food every year. Our goal is that, by 2025, all hungry people across metro Atlanta and North Georgia will have access to the nutritious meals they need when they need them. It takes the power of our whole community to make that possible. Join us at ACFB.org.
