Summer Meal Program in Full Swing

TYLER — The East Texas Food Bank in Tyler, area churches and school districts have teamed up this summer to keep children eating nutritious meals. The summer food program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The East Texas Food Bank provides the meals to area school districts, where school district employees and volunteers serve the meals.

�The program serves to fill in the gap between the end of the school year and beginning of the next school year to make sure students receive nutritious meals,� said Ashley Green, Buckner Children and Family Services community programs coordinator.

Buckner participates as a volunteer group to serve the meals every weekday, according to KETK. The program allows children in low-income neighborhoods who participate in the free and reduced lunch program at school to continue eating healthy food throughout the summer. One in four East Texas children are at risk of hunger, according to the East Texas Food Bank. All children between the ages of 1 and 18 are able to participate in the meals for free.