Mesquite Mayor joins ‘Spread the Love' campaign

Mesquite - During the summer season when children are home from school, families often observe a noticeable increase in their grocery bills.

In Mesquite, a citywide initiative is addressing this issue, particularly for families grappling with food insecurity.

For the seventh consecutive year, the city is running its Spread the Love campaign, a summer program designed to ensure children don't go hungry during their school break.

The campaign calls on residents to donate jars of peanut butter and jelly from now until Labor Day, September 4.

"For what they pay for a coffee, they go out and buy coffee or whatever, you can get a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly," said Mayor Daniel Aleman. "So easy to fix. It's nutritious. It'll help the kids get through that, that time during the day when their parents may be at work and they don't have to worry about using the stove."

This year, the city is additionally requesting donations of alternative butters that are suitable for children with nut allergies, such as those made from sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.

The city is collaborating with Sharing Life Community Outreach to facilitate the distribution of the collected food items.

Sharing Life is a nonprofit organization based in Mesquite that operates a food pantry, along with providing other services like a clothes closet, job placement support, and emergency financial assistance.

The Spread the Love initiative was conceived due to the high number of children who rely on free or subsidized lunches during the academic year, but lack access to these programs during summer. The campaign thus serves to provide these children with healthy food options they can easily prepare at home.

"We know that there are folks, there are families that go through difficult times. And as they're going through these times, obviously, we want to help them to be able to continue and do what they can. So I, we, we just like the, the name of the program. Spread the love. We want them to feel the love and that we care here in our city and we want to help them through that difficult time that they're going through and it's very easy to do," Aleman said.

Donations are being collected at four locations:

• George A. Venner, Sr. Municipal Center, 1515 N. Galloway Ave.
• Mesquite City Hall, 757 N. Galloway Ave.
• Main Library, 300 W. Grubb Drive
• North Branch Library, 2600 Oates Drive

Credit: Sharing Life Community Outreach, City of Mesquite, Dallas Metro News, NBC DFW