Making Sure Maryland's Children Are Fed This Summer

by Kimberley Chin, Director, Maryland Hunger Solutions

We're in a recession, school is about to get out and a lot of children who depend on school meals will have to find another place for their meals. As a mother of three young boys, I know the fears and worries that families face as they try to pay for their housing, transportation, energy, childcare, credit card bills, and all the other bills that tend to come out of nowhere. My car recently broke down and now I have to pay an additional $800 - hmmm, where is THAT money coming from!

Add to that the worry of making sure your children have food on the table and it can all drive you to the edge. This is where I think that we all need to step up and let everyone in your community know about the federal nutrition programs - especially the summer meals programs.

If you work with children,
if you run a summer program,
if you are able to run a summer program,
it is your duty to make sure that your program uses the federal summer meals program to leverage your budget and serve meals to as many children as you can for as long as you can this summer.

If you work with children,
if you have children,
if you see children in your community,
it is your duty to make sure that they are connected to programs that provide meals in the summer.

Go to www.mdsummermeals.org to find out more about programs in your area.