“During the school year, I can provide enough, but in the summer it gets frightening,” says Teresa, looking at her two children as they do their homework. “It seems to cost me ten times more to feed them when they are not receiving free breakfast and lunch at school.”
To make up for it, Teresa says her family used to skip breakfast and then she would feed her children what she had for lunch. “It’s stressful, really stressful.”
Teresa works full time to support her kids, but even combining food stamps and her income, she says that they usually run out of food about two weeks into the month.
“Before the food bank, a lot of times I’d just go hungry. I still have to skip meals occasionally and go to work hungry.”
“I’m used to it, though, so it’s okay,” she says, looking over their homework. “What’s not okay is for my kids to be hungry.”
At Second Harvest, we don’t think it is okay for Teresa’s children to be hungry either. Summer will be here soon, and over 107,490 children in Northwest North Carolina will lose access to the free meals they receive in school.
**** UPDATE! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED! WE MET OUR MATCH!****
Please consider a donation to Second Harvest to support our summer meal programs and the increase in need during the long summer months while school is out. If you give today through June 30th, your donation will be matched $1 for $1 through a gift from a generous donor.
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