Schools provide many things for kids, a roof over their heads during the day, a warm place to be, things to learn, and a meal. During the school year every student who needs food has access to food. Lunch and breakfast programs are available at every public school I have had contact with. During the summer time, those students still need food. In Alaska there is a federally sponsored program that reimburses organizations for providing lunch during the summer for kids. You can find a link here for more information. In Anchorage the school district helps connect kids with food. In the Valley there are two organizations I know of that do this service, Kids Kupboard and Food4Kids.
When I first started using this program last year, every once in awhile, my husband did not support it, as he said there were people more in need than us. This is the same view my sister has, and many others. I spoke with a volunteer at Kids Kupboard at the Big Lake Library drop off and she said it is good for all kids, as it helps normalize the program, so kids who are needy don’t feel bad for using the program. I decided to use the program as it provides food that I usually wouldn’t think of for lunch, the kids find it a treat, and it is a good program that connects kids and food, provides volunteer and paid work to valley residents. To help justify my use of this program, I donate yearly to the organizations that run these lunch programs.
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