An Innovative Model for Summer Meals in Tom Green County
Kids Eats Free (KEF) is a privately funded summer meals program that began in 2010 under the Tom Green County Hunger Coalition. The meal sites are adopted by churches who take on responsibility of purchasing, preparing, and serving food Monday- Friday, for five to six weeks during the summer. Kids Eat Free was very successful during the Summer of 2018, serving 8,231 children’s meals, 2,836 family meals and 1,928 volunteer meals for a total of 12,995 meals. KEF also distributed 987 Friday Food Bags. KEF partnered with several organizations in the area such as Texas Parks & Wildlife, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council of the Concho Valley, the San Angelo Diabetes Coalition, Kool Smiles and Blue Cross Blue Shield. What makes Kids Eat Free different from many TDA sites is that they provide fun and educational activities at every site. For example, with the help of one of the partnering organizations, LiteracyConneXus, KEF offered the “What’s For Lunch” book program at their meal sites. Little libraries or reading areas were set up at each meal site and children were able to check out books. At the end of the program, children were able to select a book to keep.
Author: Maggie Amaku
6/13/2019
