EDGEWATER PARK, Brand-new Jersey — When schools let out for the summer, it’s not all fun and games. For many, this time marks the end of not only an academic year, but also the in-school meal assistance on which they rely.
Nearly 15,000 students in Burlington County received free or reduced-price lunches during the 2015-16 school year, said Stefanie Arck-Baynes, deputy director of communications for the Philabundance food bank. And while schools are out, the need remains, she said.
The nonprofit’s KidsBites LunchBox program is working to fill the gap, providing free, healthy lunches to minors this summer.
Through Aug. 26, lunches will be available at the eight Delaware Valley locations of Philabundance’s Fresh For All (FFA) program, a year-round source of no-cost, fresh produce.
Fresh For All comes to the Abundant Life Fellowship Church at 4154 Route 130 every Tuesday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. It’s the only program location in Burlington County.
The program allows Hazel Hayden, of Pemberton Township, to spend less on groceries and get food she could not normally afford. The LunchBox program has actually provided meals for four children in her family.
“They eat them,” Hayden, 63, said. “(My granddaughter) ate half of it on the way home.”
Philabundance clients are food insecure, Arck-Baynes said. Food insecurity is the ongoing lack of consistent access to enough food for proper health and wellness, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Dr. Johanna Vidal-Phelan, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s primary care office in Burlington Township, said the summer meal gap deprives children of calories and nutrients needed for proper growth.
Food insecurity and improper nutrition raise kids’ risk of anemia or low bone density, and instances of adolescent depression, Vidal-Phelan said. Food-insecure children are hospitalized more often than their food-secure peers, and may have developmental issues in their academics and behavior.
Early childhood malnutrition’s effects cannot be undone. It is linked to diabetes, high cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases in adulthood, Vidal-Phelan said.
“Giving a child a healthy diet is critical, not only for that moment, but for the rest of their life,” she said.
She serves numerous families receiving indefinite food assistance, and said using assistance programs supports kids’ health and success.
Giant Food and Our Family Foundation will partner to sponsor Philabundance’s LunchBox program for three years, giving a total of $195,000 in grants, according to Arck-Baynes. Philabundance is grateful for their help in addressing the summer meal gap, she said.
Arck-Baynes said Philabundance aims to expand the LunchBox program going forward, since it distributes just once a week in each location. For now, she hopes people will seek further help from other Philabundance programs or its sister organization, the Food Bank of South Jersey.
Yarissa Reyes, director of strategic marketing for the food bank, said that during the summer, kids have access to free daily breakfast and lunch through the group.
Another issue during the summertime is that food donations to pantries also slow, said Lara Inverso, an office assistant at the Catholic Charities food pantry in Delanco. At the same time, the end of the school year raises demand for the pantry’s services as parents try to make up for missing in-school meal assistance, she said.
And while numerous families struggle to make ends meet, hunger in the suburbs often fades from the forefront.
Unlike homelessness, Arck-Baynes said, food insecurity is often hidden, and people may not realize they know someone getting food assistance.
She said people incorrectly assume the hungry are lazy or are working the system.
Some are veterans, and others are senior citizens whose Social Security does not provide enough to get by, according to Arck-Baynes. Sometimes a family faces a costly emergency and cannot budget for food, or it needs to augment monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. In these and other cases, Philabundance is a resource.
“It can happen to anyone,” Arck-Baynes said. “A lot of people are one paycheck away from needing the assistance, and we’re there when they need us.”
She said clients often seek assistance only once, or from time to time. Others need long-term help, and some simultaneously volunteer with Philabundance in an effort to give and receive.
Along with staff, more than 15,000 people volunteer with Philabundance annually. The nonsalaried work leaves the nonprofit with $2 million more to spend on the community each year, Arck-Baynes said.
Peter Kuhn, of Palmyra, began volunteering with Philabundance as a youth group leader. Even though the group no longer volunteers at Fresh For All, Kuhn does so regularly, and brings his friends.
The 76-year-old said his connections with FFA regulars enrich his work.
“One thing about this is the fact that there are quite a few people who we’ve gotten to a particular point, we’ve gotten to know,” he said. “They’ve not become clients; they’ve become friends and neighbors.”
Lisa Ryan: 609-871-8050; email: lryan@calkins.com; Twitter: @LisaR2452
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