Summer Vacation Means Fewer Dependable Meals For Hungry Kids

By Meha Ahmad

July 5, 2018, 10:41am CT

A Chicago Public Schools preschool classroom in 2017. Susie An/WBEZ

Summer Vacation Means Fewer Dependable Meals For Hungry Kids

By Meha Ahmad

July 5, 2018, 10:41am CT

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In Illinois, one in six children are food insecure, which means they don’t have enough to eat and don’t know where their next meal might come from.

For some, a daily school lunch is their only dependable meal in a day. But what happens when school is out for the summer?

Some districts are trying to ease the burden, including Chicago Public Schools, which offers free lunch for children over the summer through August 24.

You can intellectually know hunger exists in Chicago, but when you see it, “it becomes very real.”

Listen to our conversation with @FoodDepository and @IL_Hunger on the state of youth hunger in the city and state. https://t.co/pbYgt7orEt pic.twitter.com/cvuqBrIblM
— Morning Shift (@WBEZmorning) July 5, 2018

GUESTS:

Nicole Robinson, vice president of community impact at the Greater Chicago Food Depository

Diane Doherty, executive director of the Illinois Hunger Coalition

LEARN MORE:

The View From Room 205< (WBEZ, 1/16/17)

CPS to Continue Free Lunch Program Over Summer Break (WTTW, 6/21/18)

GCFD Roadmap to reduce hunger (Greater Chicago Food Depository, 6/18)