Sunday, April 23, 2023 | Special Advertising Section 1 R 30 SPONSORED CONTENT PROVIDED BY HOPELINK With the school year soon ending, thousands of regional children may lose access to something many of us take for granted. For over 16,000 children in North and East King County receiving in-school free and reduced-price meals, summer doesn’t mean carefree play but a lack of balanced, nutritious meals. Children typically can get free or reduced breakfast and lunch at school cafeterias — with home hopefully providing an evening dinner. Washington state’s FRL participation increased by 2% between pre-pandemic 2019 and 2022, with 531,292 lunches served in 2022. But in summer, working parents must pay the costs for child care plus come up with the meals no longer provided at school. A 2021 survey from the Food Research and Action Center noted that nationally, one in eight U.S. households with children couldn’t buy enough food for their families. In Washington state, almost 8% of households can’t buy enough food. Summer hunger and food insecurity can have long-term impacts — and may only worsen. Local organizations are stepping up. In 2022, Hopelink provided 3769 school-age children with summer breakfasts and lunches at one Bellevue location alone. The impact of summer hunger Soaring inflation impacts the amount families can buy with benefits or on their own. According to one recent Congressional report, the lowest-earning 20% of U.S. households spend 4.5 times more on housing and food than those in the top 20%. So when school is out for summer, food insecurity and Addressing summer food insecurity for children Since 1971, Hopelink has provided stability-building services for families and individuals across North and East King County. The agency’s nine comprehensive programs operate in tandem to support community members working to exit poverty for good. Learn more at hopelink.org. learning loss can increase for low-income household children. This has long-term effects. Children experiencing hunger are at least twice as likely to report being in fair or poor health and at least 1.4 times more likely to have asthma. School-age children experiencing severe hunger face higher poor mental health risks, lower academic performance and often lag behind peers in social and emotional skills. Attempts at summer services Two complementary federal Summer Nutrition Programs help provide food for kids — Summer EBT and Summer Food Service Program. With summer EBT, families purchase food with a debit-type card preloaded with $40/month. Unfortunately, Summer EBT still adds up to only $1.33/day — not enough to cover a full day’s meals for even the pickiest eater. The Summer Food Service Program reimburses camps, organizations and agencies serving free healthy summer breakfasts and lunches to children in low-income areas. In July 2021, the government’s summer nutrition programs served lunch to almost 5.6 million children on an average weekday, more than twice as many children served in July 2019. But recent changes require meals to be eaten on-site at scheduled mealtimes, with limited opportunities to take food away. Summer nutrition participation has gone up by almost 8%, according to FNAC — but that doesn’t match the 18% in school-year participation. Some children are going without. Families seeking summer food assistance face several barriers, notes Mike Hatada, Hopelink's food program manager. A caregiver such as a single mom or granddad may not be able to fit traditional programs into work or day care schedules. Or they may prefer a more private setting. “When dealing with food insecurity, most people prefer discretion,” Hatada says. Stepping into the gap Hopelink manages End Summer Hunger Program at its food markets in Bellevue, Shoreline, Sno-Valley, Redmond and Kirkland/Northshore. Every item that shoppers put in their cart at a Hopelink food market is free. From June through September, guardians, parents or grandparents can visit the more private space to shop for fresh vegetables, dairy and shelf-stable foods like peanut butter and mac ‘n’ cheese in a grocery market atmosphere. All Hopelink locations have evening hours at least once a week to accommodate family schedules, and parents can even bring kids along to help plan and pick out meals. Donor support, particularly monetary donations, helps address food insecurity. Those donations offer flexibility in meeting requests for fresh, nutritious foods and helping families deal with inflation. For example, Hopelink began offering cartons of eggs and gallons of milk as inflation took the protein-packed items off family tables. “So many children who are food insecure depend on free and reduced lunches,” Hatada says. “Hopelink fulfills a vital gap during the summer break, a long period of time when so many of our students could be going without meals. We help fill that void and reduce the anxiety and health repercussions of skipping meals.” Hopelink Mobile Food Program supervisor Matt Bunn distributes boxes of fresh produce, proteins, and nonperishables from designated pick-up locations three days a week. The Mobile Market travels to rural areas across east King County with limited access to affordable nutritious food. Donate today! Hopelink Harvest Program supervisor Elena Lavrushin and Rev. Jim Eichner of Food Bank Farm in Snohomish drop a load of bell peppers and tomatoes at Hopelink’s Kirkland Center last summer. In 2022, Hopelink distributed 118,747 pounds of food harvested from regional farms. (Photos courtesy of Hopelink)
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