Children can still receive nutritious meals even after school is out
Feeding Southwest Virginia will once again be launching a summer feeding program along with other methods of bridging the gap in food insufficiency in the area. You can learn more about their services by going to the website and this link. The time and day of the program will vary so please contact your nearest library to find out their schedules.
For the past few years, there has been a Southwest Virginia food truck parked outside of the Melrose Branch Roanoke City Library at 2:00 PM where children can get a nutritious meal, drink, and fruit or a snack. The local libraries also offer breakfast or lunch that you can get from the librarians and again check with the branches to find out the times.
Everyone can help keep the children fed
Prior to COVID I saw children signing their names and ages at several local library branches and was told this was the method to keep the food coming, SWV president Pamela Irvine recently told WDBJ 7 that volunteers from the program once had to remain where the food was distributed to make sure the children were eating. Now those rules have been discontinued and the focus can be on other issues.
Levine said that some children depend on breakfast and lunch at school as their main way to eat during the day. There is also a backpack program where students are given a nutritious snack they can take home to eat over the weekend. Once schools close for the summer it leads to an increase in food insufficiency and while the national rate for homes without enough food is 9% in the state of Virginia it is 13%.
Feeding Southwest Virginia is determined to close that gap and welcomes donations of food, money, and volunteers who give their time. If you are unable to visit the library closest to you please call the Main Library at 540-853-2473 for more information about the summer feeding program. Most importantly please make sure that needy children go to the libraries and take advantage of this food program.
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