Dear Friends,
School age kids across Western Washington are already looking forward to their summer vacation! It’s a time to play, recharge, connect with friends, explore hobbies, take family trips or just sleep in. But not every kid is so lucky.
For thousands of children, when school ends for the year so does their access to a regular, healthy breakfast and lunch. The end of these nourishing meals can mean many parents, who are already struggling to make ends meet, may have to make even tougher budget choices.
Fortunately, our generous friends and partners — like you — are fighting summer childhood hunger by preparing our network of member agencies and programs for the increased demand by families with school-age children. Each year we work to expand our summertime child feeding sites to help families fill the gap until classes resume in September.
You can read about how our meal sites across Western Washington are making a difference for children and their families. Just flip to page 8 of this summer issues of At the Table to learn about how kids in Everett are able to fill their plates and backpacks with healthy food.
Food is essential. It is a building block. When families are hungry, stability is impossible. Consistent access to nutritious food enables low-income families to direct their limited resources toward other basic needs – such as utilities transportation, and childcare – without worrying about whether their children have enough to eat. As you flip through this newsletter and see the bright smiles of the children and families we serve together, please remember their happiness is, in part, thanks to your generosity. You give girls and boys the chance to just be kids, free of the pain and worry of hunger.
Having nutritious food and enough to eat each day is essential to helping kids learn, thrive and grow into healthy adults.
Thank you sincerely for working to provide food for some of our vulnerable young neighbors. You make such a difference!
All my best,
Linda Nageotte, Linda@foodlifeline.org
President & CEO
