This June and July, BBF Regional Manager Linda Michniewicz and volunteers handed out free, nutritious meals to children in the Orleans area. The meal program ran four days a week for six weeks at the Orleans Federated Church.
Orleans Elementary School usually hosts the summer meals program, but that wasn’t possible this year after a water main break caused extensive damage to the school building. Not wanting local kids to miss out on meals, Linda and the Orleans Federated Church worked together to recruit volunteers and host the program at a new location, sponsored by the Orleans Central Supervisory Union.
Mariana Sears, Outreach Manager for Hunger Free Vermont, recently visited the site and shared her thoughts about the importance of summer meal programs.
To find helpful food resources in Vermont, check out Hunger Free Vermont’s Get Food Help webpage. All Vermont children ages 0-18 are eligible for free breakfast and lunch.
Mariana writes:
“Summer is a super busy time for all families with children at home with plenty of free time and full of energy. Days are longer and kids spend lots of time outside so it could be harder than usual to keep them well fed. This is particularly true for families with working parents/caregivers! On top of that, school is not in session and many kids lose access to free school breakfast and lunch they receive during the school year.
Summer meal programs help fill this gap by providing free meals and snacks to children who might otherwise go hungry. Plus, summer meals are often paired with enrichment activities that keep kids active while they are receiving essential nutrition for their developing brains. Studies show that when children don’t get proper nutrition, they fall behind their peers academically when returning to school in the fall. In addition to supporting student health and wellbeing, participation in summer meals keeps kids connected to their peers and community.
From the National Summer Learning Association:
- Every summer, low-income youth lose two to three months in reading while their higher-income peers make slight gains. Most youth lose about two months of math skills in the summer.
- These reading and math losses add up. By fifth grade, summer learning loss can leave low-income students 2 1/2 to 3 years behind their peers.
- Research shows that while gaps in student achievement remain relatively constant during the school year, the gaps widen significantly during the summer.
- Low-income youth lose access to healthy meals over the summer. Nationally, six out of every seven students who receive free- and reduced-price lunches miss out when the school year ends.
- Summer meals are often the driving factor in children participating in a summer program. When summer meals are available, kids are more likely to participate in programming that can provide additional learning opportunities. With proper nutrition for their developing brain, they can better benefit from the activities and return to school ready to learn.”
–Mariana Sears, Hunger Free Vermont
To learn more about nutrition and food insecurity in Vermont, watch this video excerpt from The State of Vermont’s Children report and check out four highlights below.
- In 2022, 14.6% of children in the Northeast Census Region lived in households with food insecurity, up from 10% in 2021.
- In July 2023, 3SquaresVT, Vermont’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), served 20,860 children under age 18.
- WIC served an average of approximately 11,000 participants during FY23.
- Early care and education programs are eligible to participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), which reimburses them for healthy food and snacks provided to enrolled children. As of October 2023, 42% (313) of center-based and family child care homes participated in CACFP.
