COLD SPRING, Ky. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture was in Campbell County Thursday, June 20, to highlight its efforts to address rising rates of childhood hunger.

What You Need To Know

  • Campbell County Schools is one of the many community partners working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to feed hungry kids this summer

  • Staff have been working for months to prepare the to-go meals, which are just one part of USDA’s summer nutrition programming

  • It also features EBT funding for grocery shopping, and congregate meals served at schools, parks and community centers

  • A lot of the fresh produce is coming direct from Kentucky farms, a benefit of the USDA building connections between nutrition programs and farmers

Campbell County Schools, one of the organization’s partners, has been working for months to get food ready to give out to families.

It’s been a few weeks since students stepped foot in the Cline Elementary School cafeteria. But the food staff is still there, hard at work preparing to-go meal bags for kids and their families who might otherwise go hungry during the summer.

“We saw early on there was a need in our community,” said Steve Abbott, director of food service for Campbell County Schools. “We feel like it is our job to stand in the gap and be here to offer meals to our children, even if they’re not in school.”

Campbell County Schools is one of the many community partners working with the USDA to feed hungry kids this summer. Staff have been working for months to prepare the to-go meals, which are just one part of USDA’s summer nutrition programming. It also features EBT funding for grocery shopping, and congregate meals served at schools, parks and community centers.

Deborah Swerdlow is the chief of staff for the USDA Food Nutrition and Consumer Services. She said, historically, USDA’s summer meal program was only able to reach 1 in 6 eligible kids. Now with these new options, it’s able to fill the summer hunger gap.

“Families can breathe a little more,” she said. “It’s great that you can get the nutritious meals during the school year. When that goes away in the summer, that adds another stress.”

A lot of the fresh produce is coming direct from Kentucky farms, a benefit of the USDA building connections between nutrition programs and farmers. The food staff is trying to pass that benefit forward to families.

“We all have kids. We have grandkids. We go to the grocery store, so we see the cost of things there. It’s very personal for us. That is the motivating factor,” Abbott said.

Just last week, Campbell County Schools handed out about 1,500 bags, all with seven days’ worth of breakfast and lunch, equating to more than 20,000 total meals.

Abbott said the time and money put into it is easily offset by the relief they see in families when they hand over the food.

According to the USDA, nearly 30 million children nationwide benefit from a free meal every day during the school year. The organization is trying to feed as many of them as it can during the summer months.

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