For some children, summer months can mean going to camp or spending time by the pool.
But for other children, it can mean they face food insecurity without the nutrition provided by free and reduced meals, typically breakfast and lunch, at school.
According to national data from the Food Research and Action Center, 1 in 7 children who needed summer nutrition received it in 2016. At Longfellow Elementary School in Eau Claire, 74 percent of students qualify for free and reduced meals.
"Food insecurity is really addressing that uncertainty of where food is coming from," said Emily Moore, executive director of Feed My People Food Bank in eau Claire. "That’s particularly a problem in the summer because the school meal program goes away."
To combat this problem, the food bank set up a mobile distribution site at Longfellow once a week during the summer. Volunteers hand out fresh produce such as lettuce, watermelon and tomatoes. About 50 families are served each week through this method.
Tami Syverson, a field services specialist at Feed My People, said the mobile food pantry is available to anyone in need.
"We encourage anybody where money’s a little tighter, where food is hard to come by, to come and take advantage of this great opportunity," she said.
Feed My People’s mobile distribution site is one of several ways to fill in nutritional gaps for students during the summer. Eau Claire Area School District also offers breakfast and lunch to anyone under the age of 18 during the summer through its summer food service program.
"During the school year, kids typically eat lunch at school. If you are moderate- or low-income, you can qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. When kids are in school, they typically just eat lunch with everybody else, so participation in that program, which is a federally funded program, is fairly high," said David Lee, executive director of Feeding Wisconsin.
Another barrier faced during the summer is transportation to available meals. That’s one factor Feed My People considered when setting up its mobile distribution site at Longfellow.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers a summer food service program, like the meals from Eau Claire Area School District. The program is meant to close the meal gap while children are out of school. Lee said participation in the summer meals is lower than it is during the school year, partially because it can be harder for families to get to the meal’s site.
"Participation in (the summer meal program) is a little bit lighter because kids aren't just at school," Lee said. "They have to get to the school, so they oftentimes experience potentially some barriers, like transportation and knowing where to go."
Feed My People’s mobile food pantry is open at 11 a.m. every Thursday until Thursday, Aug. 17. It is also involved in more than 30 summertime feeding programs in a 14-county area around Eau Claire. More information on the USDA’s summer food service program can be found online.
