SHOALS–Summer vacation can be a period of uncertainty and anxiety for more than half of North Alabama’s schoolchildren. When school is not in session, many children lose access to their only reliable source of meals. Even a few weeks of food insecurity can have severe effects on children’s physical and cognitive development. It can lead to stunted growth and diet-related disease. More significantly, a nutritional deficit accrued during the summer puts children at a significant disadvantage when school starts in the fall.
This summer, the Alabama Food Bank Association, in partnership, with the Food Bank of North Alabama is helping to make sure all kids have access to healthy meals every day by sponsoring 30 summer meal sites for children across the North Alabama region. These are places where kids ages 18 and under can go for a meal at no cost, no questions asked!
8,500 children were food insecure in the Shoals area in 2014, meaning their families struggled to afford all the meals they need to grow and learn. That’s 26% of all children in Colbert and Lauderdale counties! Several of the sites that will be opening soon are the YMCA of the Shoals, the Broadway Rec Center, Sheffield Church of the Nazarene, the Handy Rec Center, The Village Baptist Church, and the Leighton Public Library.
To learn more about hunger in your area and ways you can get involved, visit the Food Bank of North Alabama’s website at www.foodbanknorthal.org. You can also learn about hunger across the state at http://alfoodbanks.org/. Below is a list of some of the Shoals area sites where kids can eat for free this summer:
YMCA of the Shoals
May 30 to August 4
Lunch: 11am to 12:30pm
Broadway Rec Center
June 1 to August 4
Lunch: 1pm to 3pm
Boys and Girls Clubs
at Carver Homes and Cherry Hill
June 5 to August 4 (closed week of July 4)
Lunch: 12pm to 12:30pm
Sheffield Church of the Nazarene
June 5 to August 4
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Lunch: 11am to 1pm
The Village Baptist Church
June 5 to July 28
11:30am to 12:30pm
Handy Recreation Center
June 5 to July 28
11am to 1pm
Leighton Public Library
June 8 to July 27
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Lunch: 12pm to 1pm
Sterling Boulevard Church of Christ
July 5 to July 27
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Lunch: 12pm to 12:30pm
Weeden Elementary
July 10 to 12 and 17 to 19
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Lunch: 12pm to 12:30pm
Town Creek Apartments
June 5 to 30th
Monday through Friday
Lunch: 11am to 12pm
