Lunch Bus Serves Record Number of Free Meals to Chicago Area Children
During summer break, Jennifer Sanders regularly catches up with reading at the West Englewood Library on the city’s South Side.
But the 16-year-old teen doesn’t have to worry about what she will eat during her daylong visits.
That’s because the Harlan High School student is one of about 1,000 youth receiving free meals this summer from the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s “Lunch Bus.”
“This program is a great way to get meals out to children when they are not in school,” said Paul Morello, public relations manager for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, 4100 W. Ann Lurie Pl. in Chicago.
“A lot of kids lose access to free meals when school stops during the summer. The lunch bus is a way to address this issue.”
The Depository’s free mobile lunch program, which started about five years ago, is expected to provide more meals than ever this summer – 60,000 meals.
“I think there are a lot of different factors that are at issue but unemployment continues to be an issue in [Cook County],” said Morello about more youngsters getting free lunches.
The number of children living in poverty in Chicago rose to 33 percent in 2013. The figure was 30 percent in 2008, according to Kids Count Data Book.
Overall, about 810,000 people receive meals through various programs at the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
In the lunch bus program, meals are served weekdays at 21 locations in Chicago and the south suburbs. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
During a stop last Wednesday, more than 50 youth got meals outside the West Englewood Library, 1745 West 63rd St.
Sanders joined the youngsters for a meal of fiesta chicken, a wheat dinner roll, string cheese and carrots.
Sanders said she typically gets meals twice a week from the bus while she hangs out at the library. Other days, she eats elsewhere.
But she acknowledged, “I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t get this meal.”
Phillip Ogaldez visited the lunch truck with his two daughters Marilyn, 8 and Phillicia, 7.
He said his children routinely get the free lunches.
“It is a fun thing to them,” said Ogaldez, 40. “They love coming.”
For more information about the program, call 1-800-359-2163.
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