Catholic Charities in Chicago is just one of many organizations that has committed to serving thousands of kids nutritious meals this summer through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Recently, FNS staff visited Catholic Charities headquarters in Chicago and met with Angel Gutierrez.
Mr. Gutierrez, Vice-President of Community Development and Outreach Services, shared a bit about their program operations and why they are committed to expanding to serve more hungry kids in the Chicago area. Watch this video clip to learn about how they have used the program to feed children and create jobs in the process. Catholic Charities is one of many organizations working with Let’s Move! Faith and Communities to expand the number of SFSP sites this summer. Not to spoil the video, but in the summer of 2010 alone, they were able to serve 12,040 different children. Quite a summer!
Expanding access to the Summer Food Service Program is an important part of ending childhood hunger in the United States. Many children from low-income families depend on school meals for breakfast and lunch, but when school is out, those meals are no longer available. For this very reason, USDA offers the SFSP, a federally funded program administered by states that reimburses organizations for meals served to children during summer. As a community organization, school, university, local government, or individual, you can get involved! You can sponsor the program and operate multiple feeding sites. Or you can become a feeding site and work with an existing sponsor to provide kids free nutritious meals. And of course, you can always volunteer at summer feeding sites.