Northern Illinois Food Bank to help provide thousands of free meals to youth this summer

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Northern Illinois Food Bank will help provide thousands of meals to children each day this summer to keep kids from going hungry while school is out.

The food bank expects to provide meals and snacks to roughly 7,000 kids per day in the 13-county area it serves. That includes about 20 locations in Rockford run in partnership with the Rockford Park District.

“Students are entitled to breakfast and lunch at schools, and so when school is out they don’t have access to those meals,” said Melinda Craigs-Ingram, senior manager of public policy and benefits for Northern Illinois Food Bank. “We want to make sure we’re providing that, as well the exercise that they need in the summer months.”

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The summer meals program, which is federally funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is open to anyone ages 18 or younger. No registration or ID is required. Text “food” or “comida” to 304304 to learn about locations near you.

The food bank held a press event on Monday to draw attention to the program and the start of the Summer EBT benefits, also called Sun Bucks.

Sun Bucks is a new program that provides a one-time benefit of $120 for each eligible child to help cover grocery costs. The money is distributed on an electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, card and can be used at authorized retail locations as well as some farmers markets.

In Rockford, the summer meals program coincides with Rockford Park District camps, which keep kids active with education and recreation in the summer months.

The camps can help hold off the so-called “summer slide,” when students can lose some of the educational gains they made during the school year, said Donna Henderson, director for the Lewis Lemon summer camp. The program includes a mix of art and reading, games and activities.

“We keep them busy and we keep their minds engaged and learning,” Henderson said.

Learn more | summer meal sites

To learn the location of summer meal sites visit solvehungertoday.org or  text “food” or “comida” to 304304.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas