BRADENTON, Fla. — With thousands of kids now at home for the summer, there is a concern that they may have to face the threat of going hungry due to many families dealing with financial struggles.
Many children get their meals from schools, which have now closed and officials say hunger doesn't take a break over the summer. This is the reason several school districts across the Tampa Bay area have kicked off their summer feeding program this week.
In Manatee County, school officials launched the Summer BreakSpot program for this year.
Over the past 15 years, the program has helped provide food to Manatee County children at multiple locations during the long summer break from school.
Three mobile feeding buses and two mobile "Caboose" food vehicles will be making stops at 15 different locations throughout the county.
The vehicles are all air-conditioned and provided through a partnership with Tropicana.
There are also several community partners feeding centers like churches, daycare centers and summer camp programs where children can also get food.
The food bags that will be given to kids 18 and under include a hot entrée, milk, fruits and vegetables.
"We have had a couple of hard years and this is a program we always offer every summer just to make sure that our community has that resource to be able to bring their children out and get a free meal," said Jessica Anderson, the marketing & communications coordinator for Manatee County Schools.
Staff will deliver meals in Bradenton, Palmetto and Parrish. Depending on the location, the meals will be able to feed between 60 to 300 children. Indoor and outdoor seating is available for kids to enjoy their meals.
"This is actually awesome because a lot of people need it in different neighborhoods," said Santino William, a person who lives in the Bradenton community. "It is actually going to be helpful for a lot of people in this community because you never know what people are going through and it can help out their families a lot. Some people can't afford it, especially with gas prices rising."
School district officials said the service is not based on income status and all kids and teens can get food from any of the buses or community partner centers.
To find the nearest Summer BreakSpot location:
• Call 211
• Text "Food" to 304-304
• Visit website: www.SummerBreakSpot.org for locations
The meals are funded through reimbursements from the United States Department of Agriculture.
For more information about Summer BreakSpot, please contact Food and Nutrition Services at (941) 739-5700 or click here.