An assembly line is shown for the BackPack for Kids program at Three Squares north campus, 4220 N. Pecos Rd., Wednesday, March 16, 2016. The meal backpacks are sent home with children on Fridays to cover them with food for the weekend.
Friday, June 2, 2017 | 2 a.m.
During the 2016-17 school year, roughly 62 percent of Clark County students were enrolled in the district's free or reduced-price meal program. That’s more than 205,000 young people who will struggle to find food during summer vacation.
The school district and Three Square food bank are combating that reality.
For the second year, CCSD schools will provide meals through the district’s Summer Food Service Program (more than 75 sites are participating).
Three Square’s freesummerfood.org Meet Up and Eat Up offers anyone 18 and younger nutritious free meals June 12 through Aug. 11. It encompasses the Summer Food Service Program (weekdays) and BackPack for Kids (weekends), bridging the gap to prevent childhood hunger when school is out.
“Summer vacation can be a scary time for children who rely on school for meals and activities to help them learn and grow,” Three Square Programs Director Dorian Stonebarger said. “Three Square and our community partners are working hard this summer to take that fear away by giving children easy access to meals and summer activities close to home.”
There are more than 90 Meet Up and Eat Up sites open Monday through Friday across the valley, and the program will provide meals to 18 additional apartment complexes with refrigerated vans to reach more than 400 kids a day. BackPack for Kids supplements that service with meals and snacks that can be picked up from any Meet Up and Eat Up location to sustain children through the weekend.
Along with breakfast and lunch, half-days of free physical activities and nutrition education will be offered by eight of the sites: Whitney Elementary School, Desert Pines apartments, Montanan apartments and Apache Pines apartments, and the John C. Kish, Mary and Sam Boyd, McCabe and Ralph and Betty Engelstad Boys and Girls Clubs.
Alexis Merz, Three Square’s public relation specialist, said: “Hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation.”
To find locations near you, visit freesummerfood.org or text SUMMERNV to 877877.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy