If you might be interested in becoming a member of the KN2E Board of Directors, you are welcome to attend our next Board meeting on Tuesday, September 22, 2020, 4:30 – 6:00 pm. For details, contact Board president Judie Storandt by cell or text: 405-308-9158.
Kidz LunchBox has added two additional meal sites during August. All six meal sites during August are listed below. One is open until 1:30 pm.
Every meal site offers free meals for all children ages 1 – 18. This is a summer nutrition program for all children & youth – without regard for need.
All meal sites offer Grab & Go Curbside Pickup. Parents and other caretakers do not need to have children in their car to pick up meals, except for their first visit. Curbside Pickup cards are offered to display on your dashboard to indicate how many children you may get lunches for without all of them being in your car.
Diapers are available in sizes 1 – 6 at the Quail Ridge site – and at other meal sites on request.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Kids will already suffer this fall if they can’t return to classrooms, and for millions of them it also threatens their access to nutritious food.
Why it matters: School is not just a place for learning; it’s also a place where children get fed. Millions of children who don’t go to school on any given day risk going hungry at home,Axios’ Felix Salmon reports.
The big picture: 13.9 million children are suffering from food insecurity, up from 2.5 million in 2018 and 5.1 million at the height of the Great Recession in 2008, according to Lauren Bauer of the Hamilton Project, who used data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“About 3 in 10 Black households with children and 1 in 4 Hispanic households with children did not have sufficient food due to a lack of resources in June,” she writes
Between the lines: School districts rushed to create temporary food solutions for kids when they closed this spring.
But many of those districts now face budget crunches and other issues — and kids are bound to fall through the cracks.
Among the broad consequences in terms of academic performance, food-insecure children are more likely to have to repeat a grade and have lower test scores than their food-secure counterparts.
A Canadian study found that “child hunger is a significant and independent predictor of youth dropping out of high school, even when multiple effects within the poverty pathway are considered.”
The bottom line: The effects of childhood hunger last beyond graduation and well into the workforce.
What’s next: Former VP Joe Biden called on President Trump and Congress to pass a $30 billion emergency package for public schools.
By Deanna Bonn/Times-Gazette Posted Jul 2, 2020 at 1:45 PM
The Glow Bus dining room may be empty, but meals are still being served this summer through the Kids Need to Eat program. Kids Need To Eat, Inc. (KN2E) is an all-volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit with no paid staff.
KN2E was founded in 2013 to address the problem of many families being unable to provide nutritionally for their children in the summer when school is out and they don’t have access to meals at school.
This is the fourth year Mark Somerville has been the driver for Kids Need To Eat GLOW Bus. The GLOW Bus [Green Lunchroom on Wheels] takes free meals to Kidz LunchBox meal sites. In addition to free food, the LunchBox offers a range of enrichment activities to help kids have a developmentally productive summer.
Kids Need To Eat, Inc. is a summer lunchbox program for area children ages 1-18 Volunteer and Site Leader at First Methodist Church, Liberty Peterson said, this is her first year to volunteer with the organization and meal service began on June 1st.
Meals continue to be served Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays through August 7th, with meal sites located at Blackmore Elementary, El Dorado High School, Skelly Elementary and First Methodist Church from 11:30 a.m. to 1 o.m. and at the Quail Ridge Apartments from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Source: https://www.butlercountytimesgazette.com/news/20200702/lunchbox-program-active
All children ages 1 – 18 are invited to pick up free meals now through August 7, 2020.
Kids Need 2 Eat is excited to announce two Youth Ambassador internships this summer at its Kidz Summer LunchBox program.
These positions pay $5400 for working full time (36 hours a week) for ten weeks, June 1 – August 7.
Applicants need to be enrolled in a post-secondary college program, but don’t need to be full time students. Eligible applicants include seniors graduating from H.S who have been accepted to start college classes in August or September.
To learn more about Kids Need 2 Eat and its Kidz Summer LunchBox program:
Eight years ago on Feb. 17, 2013, Kids Need 2 Eat was launched by Peter and Judie Storandt, Shelley Shipman, and Sarah Johnston, MD, as a Kansas nonprofit. Subsequently the IRS granted it 501(c)(3) status.
KN2E is best known for its Kidz Summer LunchBox program, which provides free meals for children during the summer – to replace meals many eat for free at school.
Our GLOW Bus [Green Lunchroom on Wheels] takes free meals to Kidz LunchBox meal sites. In addition to free food, the LunchBox offers a range of enrichment activities to help kids have a developmentally productive summer – so help them return to school more ready to learn.
Your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps.
Thank you for helping to celebrate our 8th anniversary of feeding our future!
Kids Need To Eat recently released a summary in words and pictures of a successful summer serving free lunches and other foods for children in our community.
Read all about it in our Fall Newsletter: CLICK HERE.
Individuals interested in joining the Kids Need To Eat, Inc. (KN2E) board of directors are encouraged to attend the next board meeting.
What: KN2E Board Meeting
When: Thursday, September 5, 2019
Time: 4:00 – 5:30 pm
Where: El Dorado Civic Center, 201 E. Central Ave.
Agenda: Debriefing Kidz Summer LunchBox 2019, and planning the LunchBox 2020.
KN2E’s Board meets about 5 – 6 times each year to organize the LunchBox program. Meetings typically are held in September, November, January, March, and April or May.
In addition to attending meetings, members occasionally communicate by email between meetings.
KN2E is an all-volunteer program with no paid staff. It’s signature program is Kidz Summer LunchBox. During July and early August, our GLOW Bus (“Green LunchRoom on Wheels”) takes free meals to meal sites located where kids live and play.
All children (ages 19 and under) are invited to eat a free lunch on the GLOW Bus, and are then offered additional foods to take home – including a weekend backpack on Fridays.
In addition, KN2E weekend backpack initiative provides backpacks for USD 490 and other school districts to distribute during June and also the first weeks after school starts in mid-August.
For more information, contact KN2E’s president Judie Storandt by email (jgstorandt@msn.com) or by phone or text (405-308-9158).
KN2E is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. To read our recent newsletter: CLICK HERE
