Nearly half of Ohio’s school children qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and many of these children do not have access to adequate nutrition during the summer months. This lack of access to adequate nutrition has been linked to poorer academic performance, which can easily perpetuate the vicious cycle of poverty.

Fortunately, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) enables organizations active in low-income communities to offer free meals to children who might otherwise go hungry during the summer break.

SFSP is an outstanding program, but it is not without limitations. Two of the biggest challenges in running any summer feeding program are funding program expenses not covered by the federal government and maintaining adequate staff to operate a successful program.

While SFSP funding makes it possible to operate this initiative, it is simply not enough money to cover the full costs of feeding so many hungry children. For many programs this means less time is spent securing funding, or scaling back the program and reaching fewer children. It can also mean cutting back on the additional enrichment activities that are critical to closing the education gap experienced by low-income children.

165 Helping Hands

As part of its mission to provide food and resources to those in need, the Ohio Association of Foodbanks has partnered with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to provide summer feeding programs across Ohio with the labor resources they need. CNCS granted the association 165 AmeriCorps VISTA summer associates who were dispatched to 40 summer feeding programs.

Each summer associate provides a summer feeding site with eight weeks of full-time support at no cost to the program. This allows programs to stretch the dollars they have to feed more children. It also enables them to conduct additional outreach in the community and provide a more enriching experience at feeding sites.

Across Ohio, the association's 91 VISTA summer associates helped to serve 530,206 meals and brought an additional 1,548 youth into the program at 22 summer feeding programs during 2011, an increase of more than 15% over program year 2010. While final results for summer 2012 are not in yet, there can be little doubt that these numbers will increase given the vital addition of so many summer associates to summer feeding programs across the state.

Keith Barnes served as an AmeriCorps VISTA in 2011 for the National Society for American Indian Elderly at Penobscot Nation in Maine. Recognizing the great benefit of the VISTA program, he currently serves as an AmeriCorps VISTA Leader for the Ohio Association of Foodbanks ShareCorps program and helps administer its VISTA Summer Associates program.

It seems improbable in a country where 90 million of its citizens are battling obesity that 49 million are also having food security issues, however, that’s the reality in the United States today. And more than 16 million of our most-vulnerable residents -- America’s children --are paying the price.
 

Thanksgiving is a time to come together with family and friends to feast in good company. It is the one day a year reserved for expressing gratitude – for family and friends, health and careers, homes and means. But many Americans will not share in such plentiful abundance.
 

Many Americans struggle with poverty issues. According to the Census Bureau, 1 out of 6 Americans are living in poverty. In the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area, more than 14.6% of individuals live below the poverty line and statewide, 4.6 million Texans live in poverty, putting Texas 3% higher than the national average.
 

In 2009, nearly 1 million children simply didn’t get enough to eat in the United States. It’s a startling statistic but one that we can change, and you can help. Today, USDA launched a series of new online tools and volunteer initiatives to increase the number of individuals, organizations, and governments actively working to end childhood hunger.
 

Spring is here and that means it is time to get your hands in the soil and start gardening! As part ofLet’s Move! Faith and Communities, First Lady Michelle Obama has challenged congregations and neighborhood organizations to plant gardens in their communities.
 

Seeing the results of Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs up close is always an amazing experience as an FNS employee. In this case, I had that opportunity in Dallas recently at the Jubilee Park & Community Center. Founded in 1997, along with AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity and several faith-based organizations, the Center serves as a catalyst for community renewal and enrichment.
 

Chicago is fortunate to have a bevy of talented chefs and also to be the hometown for the Healthy Schools Campaign, a national organization that advocates for policies and practices that allow students, teachers and staff to learn and work in a healthy school environment.
 

There is much we adults can learn from children, and one of them is being able to appreciate the simple things. I was at the Milwaukee Sign Language School in Milwaukee for a celebration of School Breakfast Week. I was thrilled by the students’ delight as Active Apple (Milwaukee Public Schools’ nutrition and fitness mascot) and Power Panther (USDA’s nutrition and fitness mascot) strolled into their classrooms.
 

If there’s one thing Corey Chatman is passionate about, it’s making sure everyone has access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Maybe it’s because he knows what it’s like to rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for nourishment.
 

USDA took one step closer to ending hunger in America today with the announcement of 14 Hunger-Free Communities Grantees. The important goal to end hunger and improve domestic nutrition is a top priority for the Obama administration, and an aspiration our innumerable partners have rallied around.
 

I never tire of meeting the organizations and individuals across our great country that help feed hungry children. In late January, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown teamed up with the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks to hold a summit on preventing child hunger in the summer.
 

Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) Nutrition Services Director, Rodney Taylor, knows the face of hunger in his community. On a daily basis, Rodney’s team serve lunch to about 34,000 RUSD kids, 61 percent of whom qualify for free or reduced price meals. While the RUSD staff offer these students a fresh, healthy, nutritious meal during the school year, where do students eat during the summer?
 

I recently visited the Willie Mays Boys and Girls Club to find out from the children what participating in USDA’s Summer Food Service Program means to them. Year-round, afternoons at the Club means the children get to cook a healthy bean and kale soup, with fresh ingredients they grow in the Club’s Edible Schoolyard.
 

As an employee of the Food & Nutrition Service, I see firsthand the war that is waged on hunger every single day. The number of families across the country that are food insecure is cause for concern, but we are working daily to reduce those numbers. And it’s working.
 

As this blog is being posted, I am down in Miami at Sedano’s Supermarket with local business leaders, retailers and community members to unveil a new consumer resource that will help families in need gain access to healthy food. I am pleased tounveil the Spanish-language version of the SNAP Retail Locator, an online search tool to help Spanish-speaking recipients locate an authorizedSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) store near their home or workplace.