Summer Sites on the Front Range: 3 Stories of Needs Being Met
Posted by Katherine Van Steenburgh on Friday, August 19, 2011
Editor’s Note: All summer, Share Our Strength staff will be visiting summer meals sites across the country to show our work in action. This post is part of that series. To learn more about Summer Meals, visit strength.org/summer.
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Last week, I met a future veterinarian, monkey trainer, doctor, teacher, football player, fireman, and a comedian. On the summer meals road trip in Colorado, I had the chance to meet and talk to many of the kids participating in summer meals this summer and one thing we talked about was what they want to be when they grow up. Part of the No Kid Hungry Campaign is working to make sure those dreams come true.
I spent three days in the Front Range of Colorado on my final leg of the summer meals road trip. Meghan Moynihan from Hunger Free Colorado helped lead the site visits and members of the Share Our Strength team in Colorado came along too. We visited eight different sites, including a Cooking Matters class and met and stopped in Loveland, Longmont, Denver, and Pueblo.
The main drumbeat left in my head from the time is Colorado is that kids are getting lunches and breakfasts that they wouldn’t otherwise have because of the summer sites and the local leaders there. We heard this over and over again from parents, site leaders, and the kids themselves. Here are three examples (one from each day) of how we heard that message.
**DAY 1:** On the first day, we visited the Boys and Girls Club in Loveland, CO which is a summer meals site sponsored by the Food Bank of Larimer County (who is doing a incredible job making sure the food served is nutritious). The executive direct of the Boys and Girls Club shared with us that one of the dad’s (whose family uses the club) told her that he wouldn’t be able to feed his kids without the summer program and the Boys and Girls club. At the same site, a girl, named Charlie, said that she does feel hungry at times and doesn’t always have food to eat, but she eats breakfast and lunch at the Boys and Girls club everyday during the summer and that helps a lot.
**DAY 2:** We visited the summer lunch site at Crossroads of the Rockies in Denver. We interviewed one mother, Marissa, who is currently taking care of 15 people in her home. She has seven kids, but her husband’s brother lost his job so his family moved in with them. They all depend on her husband’s construction income and after the rent and the bills are paid, they don’t have any money left for food. They rely completely on SNAP, summer meals, school meals, and emergency food boxes. Marissa’s tone as she shared her story with us was full of GRATITUDE. She was so thankful for these programs and the leaders who run them. She told us that she wouldn’t be able to make it without the support of these programs and her community. She is facing a hard time in her life, but is full of hope and thankfulness (which was incredibly striking and humbling).
**DAY 3:** Our last site was in Pueblo, CO with the Care and Share Food Bank. The summer site was a happy and hopeful place in the backyard of several apartment buildings. The kids could walk out their backdoor, cross a bright green lawn, and be at the summer site. We interviewed one boy who said he knows that many of his friends don’t have food at home and wouldn’t have lunch without this summer site. This sweet (very unique) 10 year old boy, who wants to be a Denver Broncos football player when he grows up, told us his friend Alfonzo (who he calls Brother) doesn’t have enough to eat at home. He said, “Brothers’ family doesn’t always have the meals they need, so he comes here to get lunch and without it, he wouldn’t have lunch.” This was the message we heard from kids and parents over and over again in Colorado and across the country this summer. As we know, the summer meals programs are critical for families and kids. We watch needs being met in a bright, hopeful, and dignified way.
RELATED LINKS:
— Learn more about Share Our Strength’s Summer Meals work
— Help Support Summer Meals Work
August 19, 2011 | 2 comment(s) | Tags: colorado, no kid hungry, summer meals
Comments
2 reader comments so far.
This is heartwarming to know that there are people making sure our kids in the US are getting fed. When I was a child, I was given free breakfasts and lunches at school, but there were many hungry nights. I would try to get invited to friends' houses for dinner to have a warm, nutritious meal. Something you can easily take for granted.
I will continue to support this wonderful program! Elle @ seemomworkblog.com.
Posted by Elle on August 24, 2011
Finally- its about time we turned our attention to the folks at home! Helping kids have food is a start in the right direction. Jamie Oliver, a European Chef & parent is one of the celebrity resources available to us here in the States (so far quite underappreciated by the Los Angeles Unifed School District. His aim is to introduce healty foods to kids. Currently big corporations selling food products that are not so healthy have continued the onslaught of influence in the Media along with fast-food restaurants. These detracters need to be brought alongside the efforts of summer meal programs, food banks, food stamps, WIC and community food serving efforts in a more uniform & unified way to make a significant impact in the future!
Posted by Anita Page on August 24, 2011
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