Free Summer Meals Event Coming To Douglas County

DOUGLAS COUNTY, GA -- The Atlanta Community Food Bank and its partners have announced the upcoming kick-off events in June to launch and raise awareness for the statewide Summer Meals program. These kick-off events will be hosted at Summer Meal Sites and serve as places for children to gain access to free summer meals. Each event will include a fun-filled day of activities, guest speakers, entertainment and a free healthy, nutritious lunch for the children. More details will be sent closer to the kick-off event, including a list of speakers for the press conferences and start times for the events.

The upcoming kick-off events include:

· Douglas County – Thursday, June 6

· Bibb County – Wednesday, June 12

· Chattooga County – Wednesday, June 19

· Fulton County – Wednesday, June 26

Nearly 61 percent of children in Georgia’s public schools are eligible for the free and reduced lunch programs - or about 1 million students in the state - but only 15 percent have access to lunch during the summer when school lets out. Throughout the state, schools, community and faith-based organizations and some municipalities participate in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) programs that provide nutritious meals and snacks to children during summer vacation to replace those missing meals. In 2018, the program helped to provide 9.3 million meals throughout the state at more than 3,700 meal sites. These meals included lunch and breakfast options along with snacks.