Feed the Children Delivers nearly 30,000 Meals During Summer Feed & Read Program

OKLAHOMA CITY (SEPTEMBER 30, 2024) – Feed the Children, a leading nonprofit committed to ending childhood hunger expanded its Summer Feed & Read program in Oklahoma City as well as adding partner locations in Memphis, Tenn. and Atlanta, Ga. to reach children experiencing food insecurity this summer. The nonprofit worked closely with community partners teaming up with Americold, FedEx and StarKist, to provide nearly 30,000 prepackaged meal kits to children for breakfast and lunch this summer.

Through this initiative, shelf-stable meal kits were distributed to children during the summer months when they were not able to access school meals. 30 million children rely on school meals, when the school year ends, so does their access to this resource. Feed the Children Summer Feed & Read program helps by providing vital support to families who experience increased food insecurity during the summer months.

“StarKist is a socially responsible company, and we are proud to partner with Feed the Children for more than 15 years in the fight against childhood hunger,” said Michelle Faist, Head of Corporate Affairs at StarKist. “Through our StarKist Cares corporate giving efforts, we’re providing children with our nutritious protein products during the summer, when access to school meals is limited. Supporting families in need aligns with StarKist’s commitment to helping alleviate food insecurity across the country, and we’ll continue working with partners like Feed the Children to make a lasting impact.”

The nonprofit also provides household essentials like cleaning supplies as well as personal care items that are not covered by SNAP benefits. In addition to meals, Feed the Children provided thousands of pounds of household essential and personal care items as part of the Feed & Read program. By supplying these items, Feed the Children provides parents and caregivers an opportunity to keep more room in their budget for food.

One caregiver shared “The program gave my child accessible reading material and healthy snacks and needed toiletries.” when talking about Feed the Children’s Summer Feed & Read Program.

Feed the Children also provided 8,844 books to children this summer and encouraged enrollment in local summer reading programs to keep kids’ minds active. Research has shown that young students lose some of their achievement gains – up to one month of school year’s lessons – over the summer. This is especially true in literacy when they don’t read regularly during the summer. When students fall behind in literacy at an early age, they often don’t catch up.

In Atlanta, Feed the Children partnered with Fulton County Schools to provide lunch meal kits and encouraged students to track the books and minutes they read though the Atlanta Public Library system and utilize their iReady platform.

Additionally, Feed the Children partnered with Americold to provide support for the Summer Feed & Read program at Destiny World Church providing meals and books to children in Atlanta. Americold also sponsored backpacks filled with school supplies to help prepare kids for back-to-school season. Through these partnerships the program provided support to 1,665 students in Atlanta this summer.

“Americold was proud to partner with Feed the Children this summer by providing meals, books, and school supplies to children in Atlanta, where our company is headquartered. Giving back is one of our values and we’re always looking for ways to share our time and resources in support of the communities where we live and work. Food is at the heart of what we do, and we are always honored to support programs that provide food for families,” said George Chappelle, CEO of Americold.

Feed the Children teamed up with FedEx to provide nearly 7,000 pre-packaged meal kits at the Emmanuel Center and the Vance Avenue Youth Development Center in Memphis. FedEx also supported the Summer Feed & Read program across Oklahoma City. Volunteers helped distribute meals and engage children in summer learning to encourage reading.

“We are incredibly proud of our collaboration with Feed the Children to make a tangible impact on the lives of thousands of children. As a company we are deeply committed to giving back and making a positive change in the communities where we live and work.” said April Britt, FedEx Director of FedEx Global Citizenship.

The nonprofit worked with several organizations across Oklahoma City to distribute more than 12,000 meal kits to children this summer. Supporting children locally where Feed the Children is based in Oklahoma City, the organization partnered with Luther Community Service Center, Oklahoma City Public Schools – Spencer Elementary, Del City Church of Christ, Latino Community Development Agency, South Walker Church of Christ, Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, Positive Tomorrows, OKC Dream Center, St. Luke Baptist Church, and YMCA Y Clubhouse at Sooner Haven, Oak Grove and Ambassador Courts.

The organization also partnered with the Metropolitan Library System and their “Adventure Begins at Your Library” summer reading program.

“We are grateful for all our partners and their commitment to supporting children with the food they need to thrive,” said Tamara Sandberg, Vice President of U.S. Program Development at Feed the Children. “We are looking forward to being able to deepen our impact on childhood hunger through this program in the coming years.”