“It’s just common for us, for our department. That’s just kind of what we’re geared towards doing, bringing the best opportunities we can for the kids in the community” – Christopher Hutchinson, director of food services
Summer is the hungriest time of the year for millions of children who rely on school meals.
According to the latest U.S. Census data, 10 million children live in poverty, with the child poverty rate increasing to 13.7% in 2023 from 5.2% in 2021. This mirrors the latest figures from the USDA’s annual report on Household Food Security, which showed a similar uptick in child hunger. Nearly 14 million children, or 1 in 5, face food insecurity.
Thanks to years of advocacy efforts, Congress expanded a summer-long grocery benefit for kids, known as SUN Bucks in California. They also approved meal delivery options in rural areas, improving access to summer meals.
This summer, No Kid Hungry collaborated with school districts and community organizations across the U.S. to help close the hunger gap. With your support, we convened over 400 state and federal officials, community leaders and parents to share ideas and work together on ways to feed kids this summer. We also provided grants and technical support to schools and community organizations in California, which helped them purchase critical equipment, as well as hire and retain staff to run pick-up and meal delivery programs in rural areas.
The Val Verde Unified School District (VVUSD) food services team is a shining example of what you’ve helped us achieve.
No Kid Hungry California’s Senior Program Manager Andrea Cuellar (and VVUSD alumna) sat down with the team to reflect on the summer meals program with VVUSD’s Food Services Director Christopher Hutchinson, Food Services Manager Jennifer Mattocks, and Wellness and Marketing Coordinator Ginko Lueder.
When the new federal rule allowed schools and organizations to serve kids in rural areas, it was a no brainer for their team. “Our goal was to reach as many families as we could because we knew this was the best method to reach more families,” Mattocks exclaimed.
Having learned from their time operating the curbside grab-and-go school meals program during the pandemic, they had the experience and understood the severity of hunger impacting families.
“With increased costs of food and gas, it’s very difficult for a family who doesn’t have transportation, or for a single mother or working parents to come out to a school every day to get a summer meal for their child,” Hutchinson shared. “With this program, they can come once a week, pick up five days’ worth of school breakfast and lunch, and get the food they need for their family. Just removing some of these barriers makes it easier for families.”
Over six weeks and across 18 community sites, the food services team served more than 218,000 summer meals, a 168% increase from last summer when they were just serving 81,500 summer meals.
By providing bulk food items such as whole onions, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, milk, bread, fruits, yogurt, and recipe cards, they were able to provide essential ingredients and nutrition education to ensure kids have a healthy, nutritious meal.
“Families were so grateful, the foods were fundamental and helped with everyday meals when the kids were at home,” Lueder said.
It was a community effort to implement this new program and feed kids, especially in rural neighborhoods in Mead Valley. “We have many other people, including the site staff that do amazing work every day,” said Hutchinson. Even when enduring the summer heat or when the team was tired, “We were all pushing to do this because we knew it was a need for the community. I think that was what kept it going. We were all in it together.”
When asked if they were going to do this program again next summer, the answer was a resounding – YES! With a new food truck on the way and some small adjustments to the program, they can better support their team and serve kids.
As Cuellar describes, “As someone who grew up in this community, I am incredibly proud of the strides Val Verde continues to make to ensure no child goes hungry. The dedication, innovation, and hard work of their food services team have truly made a difference. Together, we are building a brighter future for our children, one meal at a time.”
We’ll be here to support them every step of the way. We invite you to join No Kid Hungry in helping partners like Val Verde Unified School District.
Ways You Can Help
You can ensure kids have the nutrition they need to thrive in and out of the classroom and reach their full potential in a variety of ways:
Donate: $1 can help provide 10 meals* for kids. Your support will help us fund meal programs all over the country and help us advocate for policies that will help kids get the meals they need” *Donations help support programs that feed kids; No Kid Hungry does not provide individual meals. Learn more at NoKidHungry.org/OneDollar
Speak up for kids. Reach out to your elected officials and ask them to do more to end childhood hunger. Tell your lawmaker to advocate for policies that will help kids get the meals they need.
- Sponsor for Summer 2025. Are you part of a school or community organization interested in offering the rural summer feeding program in your area? Visit our Center for Best Practices’ page for more information on the federal rules, eligibility and more.
By Tommy Le
Last updated: November 5, 2024
