In 2014, 21.6 million American children depended on free or reduced-price school lunches. When school lets out for the summer, many of these children do not get enough to eat and become at risk of all the health issues associated with hunger. Poverty and the lack of food for children are persistent problems in rural America.
As Administrator of USDA’s Rural Housing Service (RHS), I know our agency helps hungry children. Working with the owners and managers of USDA-financed affordable rental housing last summer, I learned we can do even more. Together, we partnered with our sister agency – the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) – to feed children when school is out for the summer.
With RHS guidance, nearly 150 owners of rural apartment buildings participated in FNS’ Summer Food Service Program last year. The program allowed USDA to reimburse the owners and other sponsors for serving healthy, free meals to low-income children age 18 and younger during summer months when school is not in session.
Unfortunately, we were only making a dent in the challenge. Less than one in five eligible children participated in the Summer Food Service Program during 2014. This means more than 17 million children were still at risk of hunger last summer. We must do more!
That’s why we are proud to support USDA’s goal of serving 200 million meals announced today – a day we observe the 40th anniversary of the USDA’s summer food efforts. In partnership with rural America’s affordable rental property owners and tenants, we will help the department meet that goal. For 2015, Rural Housing Service set a goal to increase our participation in the Summer Food Service Program by at least 25 percent. To achieve this goal, we need 180 properties to host summer feeding sites. We are committed to helping more kids have healthy food to eat!
One of our participating multi-family housing properties was Old Plank Estates. These folks in Butler, PA fed and supervised kids last summer; provided fun, team-building activities and did all their own outreach and marketing to let the community know summer lunches were available onsite. Like all our other property owners, Old Plank Estates was already ensuring children have clean, safe housing. Making sure these same children are being fed felt like just another part of the mission.
The owners and managers of USDA-financed affordable rental housing help us feed more hungry kids in rural America. Together we make a difference! You can help RHS and FNS feed more kids too by visiting www.summerfood.usda.gov.
