Why Molino Library can provide free summer meals for children

MOLINO, Fla. ( WKRG ) — On average, one in four children experience food insecurity in the Escambia and Washington County areas. To help combat this issue, No Kid Hungry has funded Feeding the Gulf Coast a $79,000 grant for the first time this summer.

“All of the programs Florida can take advantage of are critically important to make sure no child is hungry over the summer,” No Kid Hungry Florida Director Sky Beard said.

Last summer, Feeding the Gulf Coast distributed roughly 525 meals to children. This year, in just May and June, over 4,700 meals have been given out to local families.

Due to the grant from No Kid Hungry, hundreds of meals were delivered to Molino Library on Monday morning. The program lasts through the summer months while school is not in session. Parents and families can come and collect meals Monday through Friday afternoons, from noon to 1 p.m.

Beard said programs such as these are critical to help fill those gaps in rural communities of food insecurity over the summer.

“We know a tremendous amount of children rely on school meals for their primary source of nutrition. They’re eating breakfast and they’re eating lunch and a lot of times and afterschool snack at school”, Beard said. “When school is out, even though schools are really trying to do the best they can to feed kids over the summer too, it really just doesn’t reach all the kids that they do during the school year.”

Some parents left Monday afternoon in Molino with a week’s worth of meals for their children.

Feeding the Gulf Coast President and CEO Michael Ledger said the Molino Library location has had to turn some away in the past due to running out of meals.

“We’re always adjusting numbers to make sure we’re reaching kids and programs like this are ensuring we turn away no kid without being fed, so we’ve heard stories from the great people here about the difference it makes and how it touches people’s lives, which just keep us inspired to keep working harder with our community,” said Ledger.

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