Summer learning students at Martin High School got a surprise gift recently thanks to a donation from the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty and the United Way. The Collaborative brought drawstring bags full of snacks and sunscreen to 50 students to promote summer meal programs.
Summer months often intensify food insecurity for low-income families and can be especially difficult for students as they lose access to daily breakfast and lunch at school.
Arlington ISD, along with partners like the Baylor Collaborative, are doing their best to make sure all kids have access to nutritious food all summer long.
“Summer meal programs provide kids and teens access to free and nutritious food during the summer when school is not in session,” said Kristen Chan, a coalition child hunger specialist with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty – North Texas. “It helps increase their food security and improve their health and wellbeing so that they can be ready to learn and perform well when they return to school after summer.”
The Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty aims to tackle food insecurity and hunger by working with various organizations throughout the community. Arlington ISD partners with the Baylor Collaborative and United Way as a member of the North Texas Summer and Supper Council (NTXSSC). The NTXSSC provides millions of meals to children throughout North Texas in their summer meals programs.
Locally, Arlington ISD’s food and nutrition services department has had 43 feeding sites at various times over the summer where any child, 1-18, can receive free meals. In June, they distributed about 60,000 breakfasts and 111,000 lunches. Click here for more details and to find a meal site.