Pittsburgh students can still get free daily meals this summer
As the summer begins for students around the city of Pittsburgh, local leaders are working together to make sure every student has the opportunity to stay active and eat healthy outside of school.
Anti-hunger advocates gathered in Allegheny Commons Park-East on Tuesday morning to kick off the Free Summer Meals program, an initiative backed by Mayor Ed Gainey's office and a number of local organizations, including Pittsburgh Public Schools, Citiparks, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the American Dairy Association.
All summer long, children 18 and under can receive daily meals free of charge with no restrictions at one of hundreds of sites across Allegheny County. The list of free summer meal sites can be found on the Pittsburgh Community Food Bank website.
"Helping to eliminate food insecurity and feeding our children is very necessary because no child — no child — should go hungry," said Gainey. "Getting good food, nutritious food, should always be an objective that we want to acquire. That means that regardless of where you come from, everybody has a right to be able to eat morning, noon and night, which is why I think this program is a great one, especially since it picks up where the after-school program has left off."
In Pennsylvania, 1.2 million people and one in eight children struggle with food insecurity, according to Feeding America.
"Kids shouldn't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, and last summer our partners served more than 400,000 meals to kids," said Val Morgan, child nutrition partnership specialist for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. "We hope to beat that this summer."
That may be a modest goal, considering of the 20 million students eligible nationwide for free and reduced-price lunches during the school year, less than 5 million participated in last summer's program, leaving more than 75 percent of potential eligible students unserved.
"There's one emergency that we have: that's a child not being fed," said Malik Hamilton, director of food services for Pittsburgh Public Schools, who serves more than 5 million meals to students per school year. "As soon as we hear that there might be somebody not getting fed, all work stops until we know that every child that is hungry has a meal in their hand to put in their belly."
"During the summer months, access to healthy meals can make all the difference," said Dr. Wayne Walters, Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent. "It helps keep children strong, focused and ready to learn when they return to the classroom in the fall."
Among those present to lend their support was Pittsburgh Steelers' long snapper Christian Kuntz, a Chartiers Valley High School and Duquesne University alum. Kuntz helped pass out free lunches to the students at the park.
"As a professional football player, nutrition has played a huge part in my life and career to this point, whether that was in high school, college and into the pros," said Kuntz. "I've had countless amounts of nutritionists, strength coaches, health teachers, advisors, parents that have guided me in the right direction to make the right choices in what I'm fueling my body with, and our kids are fueling their body with the same."
Marburger Farm Dairy, based in Evans City, will provide cartons of milk for the free summer lunches, and they brought a calf, Miss Peanut, to meet the children.
"As a first grade teacher and a mother of four, I know how important it is for students to have access to healthy school meals, packed with dairy so that we can be at our best throughout the day," said Nicole Ansell, a dairy farmer with Marburger. "Because of this, I also know how important access to meals in the summertime is for many students."
Walters called the program "a vital initiative that ensures our students remain healthy, nourished and cared for, even when school is out."
"For many of our students, school meals are more than just nourishment; they are a lifeline."
