NEW CASTLE - Delaware's Summer Feeding Program for Children will expand this year to serve 16,000 students across the state in order to help families feed children who don't always have dependable access to food during the summer months.
As part of a two-year $3.07 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services' Division of Social Services will expand the program this year to cover the entire state. The grant allows Delaware to test the summer delivery of food benefits to children and their families via electronic benefit cards. The Summer Feeding Program helps families buy healthy food during the summer for children who currently receive free or reduced-price meals at school.
Collaborating with the Delaware Department of Education, this initiative will involve students in school districts from across the state in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. About 4,000 students in the Red Clay, Colonial, Christina and Appoquinimink school districts who were served last year - and have not aged out of the program - will be served again this summer. From all of the other school districts, the program will conduct a lottery to randomly select 12,000 new children from those families who sign consent forms provided to them. Letters to parents, which include the consent forms, were mailed starting last week.
To be eligible to participate in the program, children already must receive free or reduced-price meals through their school districts. "We are so grateful to be able to expand the Summer Feeding Program this year to children from every school district," Gov. Jack Markell said. "Through this program, we can reach more students who otherwise might not get enough to eat during the summer months. This is a great way to ensure that students have continued access to healthy food throughout the year, and are focused and ready to learn in the fall."
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7 comments:
is this to be added on onto food stamps that are already provided? if so I know some families are going to be fat this summer
Dependable access to food?
Where in heck are their PARENTS?
Why should taxpayers take care of OTHER people's responsibilities?
Not just summer! Year round!
ADD gardening and hunting to the three R's and teach children to take care of themselves instead of relying on GOVERNMENT!
Amen11:27
Why do you people have a problem with children getting a meal?
1:16
We are not opposed to a child getting a meal but that is their PARENTS responsibility to feed them and not our tax dollars. I had 2 children because that is all I could afford!!If they are not responsible enough to provide something as important as food for their child what else are these kids lacking from the actions of their irresponsible parents. If they qualify for this than they qualify for food stamps. What is that money being spent on?? We give them free breakfast and lunch during the school year and they get food from food pantries and food banks. Enough with the free stuff WE ARE BROKE because people are not responsible!
Well, until you can actually regulate how those welfare checks are spent, there will still be hungry children in the equation. So... Don't feed them, then? That's your solution?
Look, you don't have to like the welfare system, and you don't have to like the thought of so much of that money not being spent on its intended purposes, but here's what it all comes down to: When there is a hungry child, you feed the child. Period. We need to do whatever we can to fix the system as it exists, but these kids had no say in the matter when their parents conceived them. They're hungry, American children, and we as a society have a duty to make sure they get fed. Simple as that.
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