The program provides meals to low-income children during the summer.

The USDA reports that 17 million (or one in four children) in the U.S. are food insecure. In addition, a recent USDA study found that children in food-insecure households are more likely to have poorer health, higher rates of hospitalization and chronic health issues, and have a higher occurrence of developmental issues than children in food secure environments. The need for summer food is so large in our service area that Metrocrest Services targets those schools with the most need: elementary schools that have 80% or higher of their students in the free/reduced meal program. This includes schools in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, Coppell ISD, and two schools in Dallas ISD, Bush and Cabell Elementary Schools.

With the help of partnering organizations and hundreds of volunteers, we expect to serve an average of 1,900 unduplicated children in summer 2019, providing more than 171,000 meals. Each week the students will receive a bag that includes enough nutritious food for breakfast, lunch, and a snack for five days. The benefits of this program included healthier students and families who will be able to devote money to other areas of need. $25,000 would provide 523 children with 47,070 meals during the summer.

The benefits of this program included healthier students and families who will be able to devote money to other areas of need. Low-income families in our area struggle to meet the increasing costs of housing, healthcare, and other daily necessities. Filling the gap in food during the summer helps our families focus on other critical needs by having the meals provided at school covered by Sack Summer Hunger.