Senator Osten Promotes Summer Food Program for Kids in Norwich

NORWICH, CT – Volunteers wearing bright orange t-shirts printed with the message “Ask Me About Free Summer Meals!” joined with school district and other officials Wednesday morning at Mohegan Park in Norwich to kick-off an educational “blitz” meant to promote awareness of the summer meal program that is available for students in the region.

Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) spoke to those who had gathered at the park for the event. Norwich was the second stop on the inaugural ‘Southeastern Connecticut Regional Blitz Day,’ during a week of events to promote summer meal programs.

“The goal here is to get the word out so that the families of children who do not have enough food to eat when schools are on summer break know where they can go to have a good nutritional breakfast and lunch in their community, much like what is available to them through the public school system during the school year,” said Sen. Osten. “I cannot stress enough that this is about our community’ kids, and making sure they know where their next meal is coming from. I want to thank the USDA, End Hunger CT, and the Norwich Public Schools for doing all that they can to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and wakes up not knowing when they will next eat.”

Senator Osten also thanked the volunteers who will be distributing information throughout the community on summer feeding program locations and times.

“You are getting the word out to people, and I think what you are doing is vitally important,” said Sen. Osten.

“Fourteen percent of Connecticut residents are ‘food insecure,’ which means they don’t know where their next meal is going to come from – that’s a pretty big percentage for a state that has a lot of wealth,” said Shannon Yearwood, director Child Nutrition Programs at End Hunger CT. “What we are looking at is a lot of our neighbors, who don’t wear a sign saying that they are hungry.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Meals Program reimburses providers who serve free healthy meals to children and teens in low-income areas when school is out for summer. On the state level, the program is administered through the Department of Education, which works with school systems and other non-profit organizations to establish meal sites throughout Connecticut.

“Having a trusted provider who provides a predictable, reliable, safe and nutritious form of food – the kids know when they are going to eat, their families know when they are going to eat – it’s really important,” said Yearwood.

In Connecticut, just one out of every four students who receive free or reduced price school meals also participates in the federal summer meals program.

Last year, 41,676 Connecticut children were served by the program, which provided 1.9 million summer meals.

The Norwich Public School District is the first in the state to also implement a district-wide supper program for its food insecure students.

“Seventy-five percent of students in the Norwich Public Schools qualify for free or reduced price breakfast and lunch,” said district superintendent Abby Dolliver, who has championed the program locally and spoke during the kick-off. “This is about hungry children. This is what we must do as Americans. It’s not about ‘handouts’— it’s about taking care of our kids.”

Families and organizations can find a list of local summer meal program sites by visiting End Hunger CT’s website.