Help hungry families afford the food they need

On any given day, many people choose to skip a meal to save money or time. For millions of children across the country, however, there is no choice to make…because there is no food to eat.

Thanks to supporters like you, thousands of children in Philadelphia were able to receive free meals this summer at over 1,000 sites throughout the city. Our Philly Summer Meals Hotline and text messaging service proved wildly successful in connecting families to the nearest site to receive free meals. While the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger was able to help these families with children over the summer, we are happy to report that children in Pennsylvania will continue to receive free meals now that school has begun.

The Community Eligibility Provision went into effect this year and it allows schools to offer free or reduced cost meals to every student, regardless of the financial status of the student’s family. Prior to this year, a student had to qualify in order to receive a meal. This is a huge win for hunger fighters like you everywhere and its impact is especially felt in large school districts such as Philadelphia. According to early data collected by the state Department of Education, this new program will feed about 300,000 Pennsylvania students this year. About one third of these students come from families that would not have otherwise qualified for a free lunch.

As you can see in the video here, hungry students are a real concern for teachers. Thanks to you, we were able to keep students nourished with healthy food over the summer, and now that will extend throughout the year thanks to the new Community Eligibility Provision.

Links:

• http://www.meadvilletribune.com/news/local_news/article_10bf81f0-3a2f-11e4-a5db-3f915a35e180.htm