Free summer food program helps fuel kids in Scranton

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — During the school year, students who often go without are provided free meals. Summertime complicates that system, but a free summer lunch program is helping fill the gap in Lackawanna County.

Fueling children with healthy foods is a great way to help boost brain function.

There are pop-up lunch sites for kids across the city all summer thanks to local organizations, like the Indigo Spoon Foundation.

Kids love to run and play during the summer months, but when school’s out, many times, hunger is worse for children.

“We are a summer lunch program for children,” Indigo Spoon Foundation Founder Kim Minora.

Kicking off its second year, the Indigo Spoon Foundation is back in several Scranton neighborhoods.

The program helps fill the summer food gap, which can be especially critical for families who are already struggling.

“It’s a free program available to all children ages 18 and under,” Minora explained.

Lunches are available on various days and locations throughout the city.

Garden of Cedar, Laurie’s Garden, and new this year, Don Knoll’s Garden.

“We started out with 10 kids the first day last year and by the end, I think we had 88 lunches that we did on the eighth week,” Minora continued.

It’s important to fuel children’s bodies with healthy options all year round.

“Our focus is healthy whole nutritious foods so we make everything from scratch in our kitchen,” Minora added.

Each day, the meals are different.

On Tuesday, a handful of children enjoyed carrots with hummus, sandwiches, ice-cold lemonade, and a homemade dessert.

“We get a lot of our food from the Weinberg Food Bank so we had some extra apples today we made homemade apple crisp for the kids,” Minora stated.

This program is made possible in part through a partnership with the CEO Weinberg Food Bank and a grant from the Scranton Area Foundation .

Whether kids are eating on-site or taking their meals to go, supporting healthy brain development in children is crucial.

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