GivingGuide2019

1 R Special Advertising Section | SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2019 9 For kids, summer is meant to be a time of adven- ture, play and laughter. But for 230,000 children in Western Washington, it’s a time when food is much harder to come by. Without free and reduced meals at school, families struggle to keep food on the table. “I forget how many meals my kids get in school, and then when they’re home for nearly three months, it gets really hard,” says Elizabeth, a local mom who says she struggles to provide food for her nine-year- old son and 13-year-old daughter. Food banks across Western Washington are now bracing themselves for the increase in demand that will come once the final school bell rings. “It’s one of the toughest times of the year,” says Food Lifeline’s community programs manager Leah Rapalee. Food Lifeline serves more than 300 food banks, shelters and meal programs across Western Wash- ington. Last year the nonprofit supplied 42 million meals to programs like the Blaine Food Bank, which serves more than 400 rural families. With a weekend backpack program and an afterschool meal program, this small food bank does its best, but the increased need during the summer months can be almost overwhelming. “We do our best to source more food during the summer, particularly from farmers,” says executive director Sally Church. “But we’re talking about an additional five to ten thousand meals.” Food Lifeline is working to meet the need this sum- mer by sourcing more food from local farmers and continuing to build relationships with food donors that provide the nutritious meals that local food banks need. But the bottom line is: money provides meals. “For every dollar in donations we receive, we can create the equivalent of four meals,” says Food Life- line president, Linda Nageotte. “These are meals that end hunger every day for a family this summer.” Food Lifeline rescues millions of pounds of surplus food from farmers, manufacturers, grocery stores and restaurants, then deliver this healthy and nutritious food to more than 300 food banks, shelters and meal programs across Western Washington. Learn more at foodlifeline.org. By guest author, Food Lifeline Working to meet the increased food demands of summer PROVIDED BY FOOD LIFELINE Kids and their families receive fresh produce from Food Lifeline at a mobile food pantry in Kent. Do you know which one of these kids won't have enough to eat today? We do. Give Big on FoodLifeline.org May 8th.