Podcast: Download

Subscribe: RSS

Many school-aged children eagerly anticipate summer vacation. No more school! It’s a chance to play outside, collect bugs or just lie on the ground and look up at the sky. But not every kid looks forward to summer vacation with the same excitement. For kids with food insufficiency, the meal they receive at school is their only source of healthy sustenance for that day.

That’s why at Wisdom of the Wounded we want to raise awareness for Kids’ Food Basket,  a local organization that empowers communities to attack childhood hunger. During the school year, Kids’ Food Basket provides Sack Suppers to nearly 7,500 kids every week day during the school year in our West Michigan community. And in the summer, they continue service by offering Sack Suppers through parks and recreation programming closest to the schools they serve throughout the school year.   Recently, the organization opened a satellite office in Holland, Michigan, which is in the community that I live in.

This summer, consider teaching your kids ways they can make a difference in the lives of other local children experiencing hunger.  If you have a “Kids’ Food Basket” type resource in your area, you and your children could volunteer to assemble the Sack Suppers.  Your children can also help by decorating the brown Sack Supper bags or packing Supper Packs for the kids. You can visit their website at www.kidsfoodbasket.org/volunteer to learn about the various opportunities to get your kids involved.

If you do not have a community program like “Kids’ Food Basket,” teach your children about hunger by visiting the No Kid Hungry website to learn more about how to involve kids in the fight against hunger.   At No Kid Hungry, every $10.00 you give can provide up to 100 meals for a child who is faces hunger.

Also remember that children love to set-up lemonade stands or popcorn stands; so, encourage your children to find ways to earn money to be donated to Kids’ Food Basket, No Kid Hungry or a local food pantry. It is great if the family plans a project which they can do together; such as, grilling hot dogs to sell to the neighbors or baking chocolate chip cookies and selling them to neighbors, family or at the family’s church.  Be creative and help kids help other kids.

As Kids’ Food Basket shares, “1 in 5 kids is affected by hunger. 5 in 5 have the power to help end it.”

Please help your kids care for children experiencing hunger this summer.