President Obama announced Wednesday he plans for ask Congress for $12 billion over the next ten years to help feed school kids during the summer.

For low-income families, a free or reduced-price lunch is 5 meals a week for a child, but during the summer families can struggle to make up for those meals.

Michael Reinke, director of the Inter-Faith Council, said this is a problem for the almost 3,000 kids on free or reduced lunch in Orange County.

“Schools are one of the main sources of nutrition for those 3,000 children then that source of nutrition is suddenly closed,” said Reinke.

Obama’s new proposal would give families $45 per child to buy food at grocery stores, opposed to current summer programs that usually require a child to come to a central location for a meal.

“Having that EBT card, being able to find that kind of assistance means that we can get one step closer to everybody in Orange County having enough good food to eat,” said Reinke.

According to Reinke, 14 percent of our community is food insecure, meaning at least one family member gives up a meal to make sure other family members have enough food.

“I know that when I’m hungry it makes it a lot harder to concentrate on my job, it makes it a lot harder for me to do a good job,” said Reinke. “If we can get everyone in our community to get enough good food to eat it means we can start being a more productive community. It means that people are one step closer to becoming self-sufficient.”

The poverty rate in Orange County is 17.8 percent, slightly higher than the state average, but these issues can seem out of sight in our community.

“We do a good job hiding poverty in our community and it means that often times people are unaware of the degree and the depth of the problems that people are facing,” said Reinke.

If passed, the summer food program would begin in 2017.

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