U.S Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and others across the state are working to raise awareness and increase access to the Summer Food Service Program, a federal nutrition program run by the U.S Department of Agriculture.
Brown says only 66-thousand of the more than 840-thousand Ohio children who received free or reduced-price lunches through the National School Lunch Program during the 2011-12 school year participated in the Summer Food Service Program.
Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, says the effects of hunger on children’s health, well-being, educational achievement and future productivity are well documented.
The latest figures from the Ohio Department of Education show there are more than 1,700 Summer Food Service sites across 77 Ohio Counties. Harrison and Holmes counties are among the 11 counties in the state without program sites.
Brown says it’s not too late for organizations or groups that are interested in establishing new centers in critically underserved areas to get involved.
For the most up-to-date list of program sites, visit https://oh.cnpcares.com/summer/SfspFoodServByCnty.asp or call 1-855-570-7377.
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