[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 95 (Monday, June 15, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S4131]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, for most children around the country the 
school year has ended and the summer has begun. Some 700,000 children 
in Ohio, my home State, during the school year receive free or reduced-
price school lunches on an average day--some 700,000 children. Those 
children might not have access to a nutritious meal when school 
cafeterias close for the summer.
  Summer break should not mean a break from good nutrition. That is 
where the Summer Food Service Program steps in. The U.S. Department of 
Agriculture works with State departments of education to ensure that 
every child has sufficient, adequate, nutritious food to keep growing 
and learning after the final school bell rings. This year in Ohio there 
will be 1,500 Summer Food Service Program sites across the State.
  Last year these sites served almost 4 million meals. Last week, I 
spoke with Winnie Brewer, who runs these sites in Marion County, OH, in 
a city about the size of Mansfield, near where I grew up.
  According to Winnie, more than one in four kids in her county is food 
insecure. She talked about one of their newest volunteers, who came to 
her in tears after watching a 6-year-old boy clean the shelves in an 
SFSP site--a feeding site--and then start digging through the trash. He 
was just that hungry. That is why the work Winnie does and her 
volunteers do is so important.
  Right now, too many families don't know about this critical program. 
Too many families miss out on receiving its assistance once school lets 
out. Winnie reports that just 1 in 10 children who receive breakfast or 
lunch during the school year comes to summer feeding sites. That means 
that in my State almost 700,000 children on any given school day will 
be getting a free or reduced-price breakfast or lunch--700,000. But 
during the summer months, only about 70,000 of those children get these 
meals or snacks. We need to do all we can to raise public awareness of 
these programs so that families know that the end of the school year 
does not mean an end to food services for their children.
  In Marion, the city I mentioned where Winnie runs her program, she 
anticipates she will triple the number of meals she serves this year 
compared to 5 years ago. That is because she and other community 
partners have committed to making this program a success. At approved 
schools, in churches, in summer camps, in synagogues, and in community 
centers, pools, and recreation centers, volunteers and organizers are 
ensuring that children have the healthy food they need to succeed.
  Those sites often offer more than just healthy meals. They provide 
summer enrichment activities for kids. We know that low-income children 
whose parents typically have less education, in the months from school 
closing in late May or early June until school returns in late August 
or early September, tend to fall back on their education. In districts 
such as that where the parents have less education, less ability or 
know-how to read to the children, to take them on field trips that 
might make their minds more active, we know those children start every 
fall having to catch up just to get back to where they were in the 
spring.
  That is one of the beauties of the summer feeding program. So you are 
not just giving these children nutritious meals, but you are also 
giving these children library activities and sports activities and 
other kinds of organized activities at churches, at community centers, 
at schools, and at libraries that can matter. The sites in Marion 
County partner with the YMCA to offer exercise. They run a literacy 
program that provides free books to kids at feeding sites. Getting a 
new book can turn a child on and get that child more excited about 
reading.
  Earlier this month, I was in Youngstown--a city in northeast Ohio--to 
get the word out about the summer food and feeding program. I met with 
Mark Samuel, who operates a site at the West Side Community Center and 
a couple dozen other sites in Mahoning Valley. I also met with Retha 
Austin, who has children and grandchildren in the program, and now she 
is working a few hours a week as a paid worker to help get this program 
up and running.
  Families need to know about these sites and the dedicated folks like 
Mark, Winnie, and Retha who run them. Summer break shouldn't mean a 
break from good nutrition.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.

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