Many children in Chicago’s Hegewisch neighborhood will likely go without food when school’s out this summer. That’s according to a new Chicago State University study on hunger in the city’s far southeast side. Sister Judy Birgen helped write the study.
BIRGEN: During the school year kids can get breakfast and lunch at school and many poor children do and that can make a big difference. That’s almost half of the meals they receive every week, and they can actually receive a snack after school.
But once school’s out parents need help providing those meals. Birgen says establishing a summer food program at a local community center could help with the problem. Chicago’s Department of Children and Youth Services runs over 300 neighborhood youth food programs.
Mary Ellen Caron, the department’s commissioner, says it is working with the alderman in Hegewisch to set up a program.