“Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation” is posted by the Food Research and Action Center.
Only 18 out of every 100 students who receive free or reduced-price lunches during the school year participate in federal Summer Nutrition programs, according to a report by the Food Research and Action Center.
The report from the Washington-based organization also found that participation in summer meal programs fell 8.1 percent from July 2000 to July 2005. It concludes that sponsoring organizations and potential sponsoring organizations were put off by the programs’ complex reporting and accounting requirements, causing some to drop the programs and others to decide not to offer them.
About 2.8 million children received federally funded meals at parks, schools, churches, recreation centers, and community sites during the summer of 2005.
