Food for the Summer partnership celebrated its success in providing 10,237 meals for children so far this summer with a Jumpstart Festival at Hargraves Community Center on Thursday.
The partnership, brought together by Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger, is a group of 12 local organizations whose goal is to feed the 30 percent of Chapel Hill and Carrboro children who are food insecure.
Around 60 children were present at the carnival and met Hemminger’s question about their favorite meal so far with enthusiastic chants of “Nachos!” and “Pizza!”
“We are so excited to see what they’ve done here at the Chapel Hill – Carrboro School system,” said Tamara Baker from No Kid Hungry NC, addressing the children sitting on the floor in front of her. “They have worked really hard to make sure you have access to summer meals all summer long because when school is out, what do you do if you have been depending on the meals during the school year?”
The partnership now has 40 different sites around Chapel Hill and Carrboro until August 12 that will provide a free meal for anyone under 18, double the amount of sites as last year.
In previous years, all sites were closed registration meaning that minors had to register before getting meals, but Baker says that 12 sites are now open to any minor who shows up looking for a meal.
“Those are open to, as I said, anyone 18 or younger who stops by for a meal, no ID, no registration required,” Baker said.
Hemminger also congratulated the community effort involved, pointing out that almost all of the 1,500 volunteer slots have already been filled, although volunteers can still sign up to help.
A representative from USDA-funded Food Nutrition Services, Madge McNaboe, also spoke and called the program a “shining example” to other communities of what can be done when organizations work together.
“It was a brand new program pulling everyone together and figuring it all out, and we have learned and will continue to learn and modify,” said Hemminger. “We will be back next summer stronger, and knowing better how to do it.”
The Jumpstart Carnival provided many activities for the children, including visits from the Bouncing Bulldogs team, Kidzu, Book Harvest, No Kid Hungry and cool treats provided by Kona Ice.
More information on site locations and meal schedules can be found on the Food for the Summer website.
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