The Food Bank of Delaware kicked off its 2009 Summer Food Service Program

(SFSP) today. Kitchen volunteers spent the morning making chicken salad pitas

and packing coolers full of peach cups, apples, milk, orange juice and string cheese.

Over the next two months, the Food Bank and its volunteers will prepare and deliver

approximately 200,000 free meals to 4,000 children statewide.

The program, funded by the United State’s Department of Agriculture and

administered by the Delaware Department of Education, provides breakfast, lunch

and snacks to low-income children in the summer when access to free and

reduced-price breakfast and lunch feeding programs are not available.  

“While news reports indicate that the economy is improving slightly, there are still many Delawareans that are struggling to make ends meet,” says Food Bank of Delaware President & CEO, Patricia Beebe. “Now that school is out many families will face the challenge of scraping together already limited funds to provide nutritious breakfast and lunch meals for their children.”

In Delaware, more than 40,000 children rely on these school nutrition programs as their main source of healthy meals – when school ends for the summer so does breakfast and lunch for many. In the past, only 22 percent of eligible children have taken advantage of the summer feeding program.  

To help bridge the nutrition gap this summer, the Food Bank will provide nutritious meals for close to 80 sites that feed hungry children. Children can expect to see a menu of healthy, kid-friendly foods including ham and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, apples, cereal bars, graham crackers, juice, milk and more.

Eligible SFSP sites in New Castle County wishing to receive meals from the Food Bank of Delaware may contact Stacy Stevens, Children’s Nutrition Program Coordinator at the Food Bank of Delaware at (302) 292-1305 ext 241; sites in Sussex County may contact Crystal Timmons, Milford Branch Manager at (302) 424-3301 ext 104.

Volunteers are also needed every weekday from 8:00 a.m. to 12 noon to prepare meals this summer. Please visit www.fbd.org or call (302) 292-1305 for more information or to schedule a time.