Thursday morning, the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District kick-started the Summer Nutrition Program at Bayou Meto Baptist Church in Jacksonville.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Education Secretary Jacob Oliva and others spoke at the event, sharing the hope that this program will put a dent in the state's food insecurity, which the USDA says is one of the highest in the county with over 16% of households facing food insecurity.
"We know that the summer months are some of the very most critical times for kids, and we want to help do everything we can," Sanders said. "That's going to require a partnership from the nonprofit, the public, and the private sectors all coming together, and that's exactly what you see represented here today."
The USDA's Summer Nutrition Program will support students in three ways: summer meals that are served at schools, parks, and other similar locations; summer EBT, a new grocery benefit offering families $120 per eligible child over the summer; and summer meals to-go, which offers meals for pickup and delivery to rural communities.
Drive-thru locations like the one at Bayou Meto Baptist Church can provide families with multiple days of meals in one stop, says Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District Child Nutrition Director Clint Walker.
"Children don't have to eat on the premises. They can live 15-20 miles and come up here and get their meals. Right now we're feeding over 100 children a day free breakfast and free lunch, so we're doing 200 meals a day out of this church."
Melissa Curtis has children in elementary school, and she says this program is helping her save about $75 - $125 per grocery trip. Plus, she says the drive wasn't bad.
"I think it was only like eight minutes. It's really just right down the road, but I had seen they had posted a flyer on the Jacksonville-North Pulaski school page, and they have sites throughout. So, it wouldn't really be hard for people in the area to access one of those points."
Following the morning's event, Sanders and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva stepped into the line to hand out the first meals of the Summer Nutrition Program.
Mary Franklin, Head of County Operations at the Arkansas Department of Human Services, says the department is finalizing over 240,000 cards for the Summer EBT program.
Franklin said many children eligible for these cards do not need to apply, but others may still need to apply before they can receive the benefit.
You can check your eligibility for the program by going to AR.GOV/SummerEBT.
