The months of summer are always greatly anticipated by kids for the fun and excitement that comes with having no school. Kids are excited to spend time with their friends, eat hotdogs and hamburgers, and spend their days as they please. 

While some are off having fun, many kids are home, without transportation while their parents work. They are bored, and hungry, with parents concerned about them home alone. 

Many kids struggle with getting the proper nutrition in the summer. Research from Feeding America shows that with rising food prices, millions of kids and families are more vulnerable to hunger during the summer. 

 Every day during the school year BCPS students have the choice to get a free lunch from the school, meaning in the building they are never hungry. During the summer, BCPS used to only give breakfast and lunch to their summer programs, now, there are multiple programs that all families have access to whenever they are in need of a little help.  

Recently, Hereford High School and the rest of BCPS have started programs for any family to be able receive food for the week, no questions asked, to provide for the rest of their family. This is available to families at a local, county, and state level, but the state programs come with a bit more difficulty to qualify for the access of food. 

Within the Hereford community there is the Hereford Food Bank. Any guardian who is over 18 years of age living in the house, can obtain food and groceries to supply a family for a week. This includes fresh meats and breads, canned goods, etc.

“There aren’t any financial criteria, you don’t have to show proof of any low income, which I feel like is a blessing for us because it removes one of the barriers,” Mrs. Esworthy said. 

BCPS has different stations throughout the county during the summer in close enough proximity for families to always have a place to get food nearby. Similar to the food bank, no official reason is needed to be provided with food, and it is for anyone with a student in BCPS who feels unequipped to pay for groceries themselves.

“The idea is even if a family feels that they are lacking food, they can access [this] so that the money that they would be spending at the grocery store, can then be allocated for other bills,” Mrs. Esworthy said. 

At the state level, it is a different story. It is through a guardian applying for state benefits, like the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) program. This is a program that helps with reducing the cost for groceries at the store. It is more difficult to access for families, since it is state funded and run, more paperwork is involved, and proof of financial need is required.

With the help from these different programs, families can maintain a healthy summer without the worry of their kids being hungry all the time, and in good spirits knowing that their child’s school is still looking out for them, even when not in session.