Hundreds of Haverhill children will receive a free, nutritious lunch every weekday through the summer, giving them enough energy to enjoy their vacations. Because it's no fun to play on an empty stomach.
Project Bread, the state's leading anti-hunger organization, sent $4,000 to the Summer Food Service Programs at Haverhill Public Schools to help provide more than 20,500 meals to youngsters at four sites.
The program, which is free to families and funded by the USDA and administered in the state by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, helps children who rely on free or reduced-price meals during the school year get healthy meals during the summer. The program also provides fun summer activities for the children. No registration is necessary and sites are open to all children 18 and younger.
"It's all part of an effort to help families cope with the economic crisis and keep their kids eating, growing, socializing and learning," said Ellen Parker, director of Project Bread.
"The money really helps," said Dr. Raleigh Buchanan, superintendent of Haverhill Public Schools. "We have kids that need to be serviced, and $4,000 goes a long way."
The money can be used to buy equipoment to store and prepare food, as well as sports equipment, arts and crafts supplies, or books, whatever is needed to enrich the programming and increase the number of children a program can serve.
Across the state, more than 51,000 children from low-income households will benefit from the summer food programs this year. Some programs provide a breakfast and lunch, others provide lunch and a snack, but all save families from the cost of the meals each day for their children, savings that can really add up over the course of the summer.
In Haverhill, all the meals feature fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products as part of Project Bread's "Better Summer Meals" guidelines.
"Helping low-income families gain access to nutritious food is fundamental to our mission," said Parker. "This program introduces low-income children to quality nutrition that will help promote better lifelong eating habits."
For a complete listing of locations, dates and times, parents and guardians can to call Project Bread's FoodSource Hot Line at 1-800-645-8333 or visit www.meals4kids.org.
Summer Food Service locations
Girl Scouts (Tilton School): 70 Grove St. Open Monday through Friday for lunch from noon to 1 p.m. The site runs until Aug. 20.
Plug Pond: 119 Mill St. Open Monday through Friday for lunch from noon to 1 p.m. The site runs until Aug. 26.
Consentino School: 685 Washington St. Open Monday through Thursday for lunch from noon to 1 p.m. The site runs until Aug. 14.
