As food insecurity eases as the pandemic declines, children are still one of the groups experiencing hunger the most. Summertime is when the hunger crisis becomes a big problem for kids. Many children are not in school to receive both breakfast and lunch. According to Feed America, approximately 32,000 kids in Delaware don’t have adequate food to eat.
Help is on the way for families, especially for children this summer. Blunt Rochester said many families will receive financial assistance later this month.
“The child tax credit was just passed as part of the American Rescue Plan, and this is going to be a massive game-changer for many parents across the country because now, starting July 15, they will see in their bank accounts, support so that we will lift half of the children in our country out of poverty,” Blunt Rochester said. “We will cut poverty in half for our children, so it’s a major, major thing that people should be on the lookout for, and it was part of the American Rescue Plan, and we hope to make it permanent.”
Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester helps distribute food at the Food Bank of Delaware’s drive-thru event in Georgetown Tuesday morning. (Johnny Perez-Gonzalez / WHYY)
“Both the Food Bank of Delaware and a lot of community organizations have drive-thru food assistance programs, but longer-term, folks who are eligible should be applying for SNAP, children who are in school should be enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program,” said Coons. He suggested adults contact their nearest state service center to determine their eligibility for SNAP and apply for the program.
Coons encouraged residents to help each other to combat this ongoing problem. He urged people to consider making a donation of time, food, or money.
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This article was produced with the support of a grant from the Delaware Community Foundation. For more information visit https://www.delcf.org/journalism/
Dining and Cooking