Gridley Unified School District and Marysville Joint Unified School District received grants as part of a statewide investment totaling $194,205. Designed by Magnific

 

SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Two local school districts are among 14 organizations across California receiving grant funding from No Kid Hungry California to help expand access to free summer meals for children in rural communities.

Gridley Unified School District and Marysville Joint Unified School District received grants as part of a statewide investment totaling $194,205. The funding will help schools and community organizations strengthen flexible summer meal programs that provide food to children when school is not in session.

For many families, school meals provide a dependable source of nutrition during the academic year. During summer break, those meals are unavailable, placing additional financial pressure on household food budgets.

According to No Kid Hungry California, children in rural communities often face greater barriers to accessing summer meal sites because of long travel distances, transportation costs, extreme weather and work schedules that limit parents' ability to visit meal locations.

Traditionally, federally funded summer meal programs have required children to eat meals at designated sites. The organization estimates that about six of every seven eligible children have historically missed out on summer meal programs under that model.

The grants will help local partners expand non-congregate meal programs through services such as home meal delivery, transportation, food storage and refrigeration, staffing and other operational needs.

"There’s long been a huge gap between the number of kids getting meals in the summertime and the kids who really need them, particularly in rural communities," said Kathy Saile, director of No Kid Hungry California. "These flexibilities for summer meals in rural communities means that no longer has to be the case."

Saile said the grants are intended to increase the ability of local organizations to reach children with nutritious meals while school is out.

"Working in concert with SUN Bucks, these programs help to ensure that summer is no longer the hungriest time of the year for kids," she said.

No Kid Hungry also cited findings from a recent survey of rural families. More than half of respondents said they do not have enough money for food during the summer, while more than 80% reported spending an average of $168 more each month on groceries when children are home from school.

Families seeking information about free summer meals, SUN Bucks and CalFresh can visit http://NoKidHungry.org/Help or http://NoKidHungry.org/Ayuda.