The Governor and Lt. Governor also are encouraging more children and families to participate in the Summer Food Service Program, which serves meals and snacks at more than 300 sites statewide until next month.
“We are making solid progress with our Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. Many summer feeding sites across Colorado are seeing significant increases – in some cases a doubling - in the number of children who are receiving free meals,” Gov. Ritter said. “We are helping to ensure that fewer children are going hungry.”
“We are heartened to see that our outreach efforts are drawing more children this summer to schools and community facilities for free meals,” said Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien. “The summer meal program is a terrific way to help our children get healthy meals until they return to the classroom. I encourage more children and families to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.”
The Summer Food Service Program is a federally-funded nutrition program designed to replace school meals during the summer. Free meals are open to all children ages 18 and under. Adults can pay a small fee for meals at participating sites, which can be found at www.sumerfoodcolorado.org or by calling 1-877-934-8643.
Gov. Ritter and Lt. Gov. O’Brien launched the statewide Campaign to End Childhood Hunger in November 2009. This initiative includes a goal of increasing participation in the Summer Food Service Program by 10,000 additional meals per day this summer compared to last year. To reach this goal, the state and its partners, Hunger Free Colorado and Share Our Strength, launched an aggressive outreach effort, including robo-calls from the Governor, 65,000 business cards given to local communities, 2,000 posters, 1,000 banners, and 60,000 postcards distributed across the state.
This year, more than 300 sites are participating in the program compared to 200 last year. While statewide numbers are not yet available, anecdotal data indicate that the Summer Food Service Program has grown sharply in popularity:
· The Food Bank of the Rockies, one of the largest sponsors in Colorado for this program, served 52,452 meals in June, a 43 percent increase from June 2009.
· The Weld Food Bank served 2,000 meals in June, which is double the number from the year before.
· The Food Bank for Larimer County served 12,000 meals in June, a 50 percent increase from June 2009.
· Denver Public Schools served 100,000 meals in June, a 43 percent increase from June 2009.
More information about the Campaign to End Childhood Hunger can be found at www.hungerfreecolorado.org.
