Efforts Expand to Keep Illinois Kids Fed This Summer

(Undated) -- For kids, summer should be a time for carefree fun, but there are thousands in Illinois who spend their days worrying about when they will eat next. During the school year, many children from lower-income families rely on free or reduced-priced breakfast and lunch at school, yet last year in Illinois, only 11-percent of those children participated in summer meal programs. U-S-D-A Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Audrey Rowe says that’s why the agency is expanding efforts to reduce childhood hunger when school is out. So, Illinois is one of several states being targeted in a national effort to add more meal sites for the Summer Food Program. Rowe recently met with school, community, and anti-hunger leaders in Chicago to develop solutions and set up more sites, including partnerships with faith-based organizations and mobile feeding sites.