KY KIDS EAT SUMMER SUCCESS REPORT

FEED

ING

KEN

TUCK

Y

2019

FEEDINGKY.ORG | PO BOX 5522 FRANKFORT , KY 40602

2

Feeding Kentucky’s seven member food banks serve all 120 Kentucky counties in partnership with a network of over 800 local food pantries and shelters. Last year, our members distributed 86 million pounds of food and grocery products — enough for 72 million meals for our struggling neighbors.

We work every day to increase the quality, variety, and nutritional value of food available to feed hungry people in Kentucky. We mobilize the public to join the fight to end hunger by increasing awareness of the causes and solutions to hunger. Advocating for food security through sound public policy and legislative solutions to hunger is top of mind. We build strong alliances and partnerships that impact hunger relief in Kentucky.

KY Kids Eat is the childhood nutrition program of Feeding Kentucky. KY Kids Eat is committed to ending childhood hunger in Kentucky by connecting kids to healthy meals 365 days a year.

The No Kid Hungry Kentucky campaign, a

WHO WE ARE

OVERVIEW

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThis report was prepared by Kate McDonald, with help from members of the KY Kids Eat Coalition including Cathy Gallagher, Jennifer Smith, John Johnson, Alan Curtsinger, Denise Rennekamp, Katie Landon, Melinda Turner, and Tamara Sandberg. Feeding Kentucky gratefully acknowledges support of its work to expand and improve the Summer Food Service Program in 2019 from the following:

• Share Our Strength• Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund• Anthem Medicaid• Stantec

KY KIDS EAT 2019 SUMMER SUCCESS REPORT

partnership between Share Our Strength and Feeding Kentucky, is the key strategy to achieve the mission of KY Kids Eat by increasing access to school breakfast, summer meals and afterschool meals.

No Kid Hungry is a partnership between Share Our Strength and Feeding Kentucky committed to ending childhood hunger in Kentucky by ensuring kids get the food they need.

Our mission is to end hunger, in collaboration with Kentucky’s Feeding America Food Banks and partners, through advocacy and resource development.

3

For most kids in Kentucky, summer memories are defined by the food they ate - backyard barbecues, popsicles at the pool, and s’mores around a campfire. Unfortunately for many others in the Commonwealth, that was not the case this summer.

When school let out earlier this year, many Kentucky kids who qualify for free and reduced-price meals lost access to the breakfasts and lunches they count on during the school year. 186,660 children in Kentucky face hunger.1 Only 19 percent of children eating free or reduced price lunch during the school year access a summer feeding program in 2018.2

In 2019, the poverty level for a household of four is an annual income of $25,750.3 Unfortunately, a significant number of Kentuckians fall below that line. Our most recent data shows that of the 662,360 food insecure people living in Kentucky, 56 percent live below 130 percent of the poverty threshold.4

Families are struggling to meet basic needs and children are on the front lines – more than 68 percent of SNAP participants in Kentucky are families with children.5 Losing access to critical school meals during the summer affects everyone, as parents and caregivers have to stretch their food dollars further to feed everyone in the home.

1 Feeding America, "Map the Meal Gap", 2019.

2 Feeding America analysis of USDA 2018 data. 3 HHS, "2019 Poverty Guidelines", 2019.4 Feeding America, 2019.5 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "SNAP Helps Milliions of Children", 2017.

Half of all 120 Kentucky counties had a child food insecurity rate higher than 20 percent.6 Food insecurity has a long-term impact on health, education, and Kentucky’s economy. Studies show that children living in food insecure homes are at greater risk for poor health, nutritional deficiencies and obesity, as well as developmental delays and poor academic achievement. In particular, inconsistent access to nutritious meals:

• Makes children more susceptible to chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Food insecure kids are 31 percent more likely to be hospitalized.7

• Results in a greater academic “summer slide”. By the end of the fifth grade, low-income youth are nearly three grade equivalents behind their more affluent peers in reading."8

Summer meals are part of the solution. Kids need access to healthy meals and communities are stepping up to meet the need. This report details the work across the Commonwealth to reach more children during summer 2019 through the Summer Food Service Program.

6 Feeding America, 2019. 7 Share Our Strength, "Summer Hunger is Too Expensive to Ignore", 2015.8 Ibid.

Summertime is the most vulnerable time for hungry kids. Those who rely on school meals struggle to get enough to eat during the summer months.

OVERVIEW

SUMMER HUNGER IS A PROBLEM

CHILDHOOD HUNGER IN KENTUCKY

4

THE SOLUTIONSUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a federally-funded, state-administered program. The Kentucky Department of Education administers the program and communicates with USDA. The SFSP reimburses providers who serve free healthy meals to children and teens in low-income areas during the summer months when school is not in session.

Sponsors enter into agreements with the Kentucky Deapartment of Education to run the program. Schools, local government agencies, camps, faith-based and other non-profit community organizations that have the ability to manage a food service program may be SFSP sponsors. Sponsors get reimbursed by the program and may manage multiple sites.

Sites are places in the community where children receive meals in a safe and supervised environment. Sites may be located in a variety of settings, including schools, parks, community centers, health clinics, hospitals, apartment complexes, churches, and migrant centers. Sites work directly with sponsors.

Madison County Schools' Street Eatz Bus at a mobile meal site in Richmond, KY. The bus began stopping at this location because families couldn't access other meal sites.

STRATEGY

Photo top left

Summer meals follow USDA guidelines to ensure meals are nutritious for kids. Many sites occassionally serve summer staples so all children get a taste of the season.

Photo top right

Summer meal sites aren't just for eating a healthy meal. For many kids and families, meal sites are gathering places to learn and socialize in a safe environment.

Bottom photo

Cathy Gallagher

Program ManagerSummer Food Service ProgramKentucky Department of Education

"Other" doesn't exactly paint a picture of how creative summer meal sponsors can be. "Other" sites were YMCAs, farmers markets, a neighbor's shady yard, even barns! Sponsors work to meet kids

and families where they live, work and play.5

WHO OPERATED THE PROGRAM?

WHERE DID KIDS EAT SUMMER MEALS IN 2019?

135 Schools

Recreation

Other

Library

Housing

School

Church

Mobile Site

86 sites

528 sites227 sites127 sites

529 sites556 sites891 sites

IMPACT

26 Nonprofits

11 Residential Camps/Collleges2 Government Sites

WHEN DID THE PROGRAM OPERATE?

MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST

The Summer Food Service Program operates when school is out of session, which explains why May and August tend to have fewer meals served to kids. However, many sponsors are working to extend the days they serve to ensure those that need meals most will receive them up until school starts. This safeguard supports families and sends kids to school ready to learn.

MEA

LS S

ERVE

D

1,600,000

1,400,000

1,200,000

1,000,000

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000

0

IMPACT

6

Kentucky is one of the only states that has consistently grown the SFSP since 2015. Partnership and innovation are key to that growth.

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

1,800,000

2,000,000

2,200,000

2,400,000

2,600,000

2,800,000

,3,000,000

,3,200,000

MEA

LS S

ERVE

D

3,297,979 meals

Data Source: Kentucky Department of Education, November 2019.Food and Research Action Center, "Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report,

July 2019.

7

KY KIDS EAT COALITIONACCESS TO MEALS EVERY DAY

STRATEGY

Feeding KentuckyNo Kid HungryKentucky Department of EducationKentucky Department of AgricultureUSDA Rural Development Governor's Office of Agricultural PolicyKentucky Department of Libraries & Archives

COALTION PARTNERS

We are statewide partners inspiring communities to take action and end hunger for all Kentucky kids.

WHAT DRIVES US

We believe all children should have access to a healthy meal in a safe, nurturing environment and no child's future should be stifled by their family’s income. The KY Kids Eat Coalition believes that partnership and creativity is key to expanding all meal programs.

The KY Kids Eat Coalition focuses on increasing participation in programs that are already working in Kentucky - programs like school breakfast, afterschool meals and summer meals. We believe our coalition's work can amplify the impact of these meal programs and reach more children each year.

OUR GOAL FOR SUMMER MEALS

We want at least 20 percent of all kids that receive free or reduced-price lunch to have access to summer meals. To work towards that goal in 2019, our group focused on: • Increasing access to transportation in communities with limited resources.• Connecting with potential summer meal partners in underserved areas throughout Kentucky. • Increasing awareness of summer meals for families through the No Kid Hungry texting hotline and outreach

partnerships. • Sharing the impact of summer meals in Kentucky with state and federal elected officials.

Governor's Office of Early Childhood UK Nutrition Education ProgramBerea College - Grow Appalachia Dare to Care Food BankGod's Pantry Food BankUMC FoodKCEOC Community Action

Jefferson County Public SchoolsBreathitt County Public Schools The Dairy AllianceThe American Heart AssociationKentucky/West Virginia State Alliance of YMCA

8

When Jo Cooper planned for her first Summer Food Service Program, she decided to feed children at five sites aross Muhlenberg County. No one could have predicted that she would end the summer serving a total of 20,016 meals at 47 different sites throughout her community.

This summer was eye-opening for Jo and others as they went out into the community. “My employees who might have been short with children in the past did not know the situations they were in. I took them out to different places where children live and it changed them. It was worth every bit of it just to change hearts."

Jo and her team went above and beyond for kids, even throwing a birthday party, complete with goodie bags, for children at one site

(pictured above). “It was nothing like I expected; it was awesome. I really thought we would just take a few lunches out. I really didn’t have any idea of how great a program it would be and how it would change my life, too.”

The community rallied around the program to make it a success. When a site in Graham, Kentucky had very low participation, neighbors stepped in. Jo says, "A man called me and said, 'There is a need for feeding children here.' I told him that I had tried, but it just didn’t work. He told me, 'You can use my yard. He provided the tables and chairs in his yard and it ended up being a great site.'"

When asked if she will participate in the Summer Food Service Program again, Jo says, " In a heartbeat. It is the greatest thing I've ever done in my career. I will see the kids at school and they will say, ‘There is the lady who brought our lunch!' I wish I could tell everybody to do this. It’s not about making money. I actually felt a little depressed when school started again and I had to go back to the office; I missed the kids so much. I loved every bit of it.”

“I’d like to be able to reach more kids. You know the little boy who had to move 3 times last summer? That was an eye opener. I just want to make sure I am reaching the kids who need it the most. I want to make sure I go where the need is.”

STORYTELLING

CHANGING LIVES MUHLENBERG COUNTYJo Cooper as told to Jennifer Smith, SFSP Consultant

9

INNOVATION SPOTLIGHT MOBILE MEALS

BEST PRACTICES

Many meal sponsors refurbish old school buses for summer mobile meals. Colorfully wrapped buses like this one from Hardin County Schools are easily recognizable to kids.

In many parts of Kentucky, children may live in isolated locations where access to meal service sites operated by schools, parks and recreation departments, and private nonprofit organizations is often limited. In other communities, childrens' safety may limit viable site location options.

Access to meal sites and transportation for kids is a significant issue in Kentucky, and many summer sponsors use mobile meal routes to reach more children in rural areas. Instead of requiring children to travel to meal service sites that are inaccessible or too dangerous for them, sponsors have the option to bring the meals to where kids live and play.

WHAT ARE MOBILE MEALS?

Food service staff at the school cafeteria prep for their lunch meal service on the bus. Participating in mobile meals doesn't mean that quality of declines. Portable warmers ensure that meals arrive hot.

Kids can eat their meals on the bus if the vehicle is equipped with seats. If it is not, many sponsors provide outdoor tables, tents, and even quilts for kids to sit, eat, and play.

Mobile meal sites are typically in neighborhoods or other areas where kids congregate, like parks or pools. Families expect the bus's arrival, and for some kids may be their only peer socialization each day.

MAKING SUMMER MEALS WORK BETTER FOR KIDS

We had a high school student thank us for the meals for her and her brothers. She said they would not have had anything to eat without our bus.

Dianna WilsonOhio County Schools

This summer we added a feeding van. By the end of the summer, there was not enough room for the children to sit on one blanket. Adding the van may be one of the best things I have ever done.

Jennifer WheelerMarion County Schools

10

$55,000

40%

Summer meal sponsors in Kentucky know that access to meal sites can be a roadblock for kids and families, but many don't have the capacity to expand their meal program to include a mobile meal route. The No Kid Hungry Kentucky Mobile Meal Mini Grants, funded by Share Our Strength and Anthem Medicaid, provided access to much needed equipment, bus maintenence, and other essentials for making mobile meals work for summer sponsors and families alike.

Summer meal sponsors funded by No Kid Hungry Kentucky Mobile Meal Grants increased the number of meals they served to kids in 2019 compared to 2018 by 132,994 meals.

MOBILE GRANTS

GRANTEE MEAL

TO 11 PARTNERS

GROWTH

No Kid Hungry Mobile Meals Grantees included Hardin County Schools, Ohio County Schools, KCEOC Community Action Partnership,

Bardstown City Schools, Grant County Schools, Christian Appalachian Project, God's Pantry Food Bank, Hancock County Schools,

Henderson County Schools, Marion County Schools, and Union County Schools.

MOBILE SITE GROWTHIMPACT

MOBILE SPONSOR GROWTH

Mobile meal sites in Kentucky have increased by 1520 percent since 2015, as summer meals sponsors are quick to embrace innovations aimed at reaching more kids. Almost 1 in 4 summer meal sites in 2019 were on a mobile meal route and half of all summer meal sponsors had a mobile meals program.

INCREASE THE IMPACT

This has allowed us to expand into an adjacent county and offer lunch and snack to 400 kids daily that otherwise would not receive a meal service throughout the summer months.

Brendia MosesKCEOC Community Action

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

SITE

S

SPO

NSO

RS

Data Source: Kentucky Department of Education, November 2019.

11

LUNCH BUS EXPRESS SUCCESSGRANT COUNTYJennifer Perry as told to Melinda Turner and Alan Curtsinger, The Dairy Alliance

STORYTELLING

Grant County Schools had an awesome summer introducing the new Lunch Bus Express. They took an old school bus and renovated it into a mobile feeding unit. This was a huge hit with the community. Jennifer Perry, Summer Feeding Supervisor, says "The bus was a success in part for the equipment supplied by the Dairy Alliance; the portable milk cooler was wonderful and so easy to load and keep the milk ice-cold."

With the new bus, Grant County Schools added 3 new sites and fed many more kids this year. The Lunch Bus Express fed an average of 55 children a day and on Splash Park days, they averaged 80. Total lunches served this year was 11,592 compared to 7,992 last year. This was a 69 percent increase, which is a significant growth for the school district.

The program relies on school staff to make the program successful. Jennifer says, "We could not have done it without a great staff and a dedicated bus driver, Bill Hornsby. He worked everyday summer feeding was in operation and did a fantastic job welcoming students onto the bus to eat. We had several parents express their appreciation for his kindness toward the kids and making them feel welcome."

Kids enjoying healthy meals on the newly renovated Lunch Bus Express. Grant County Schools included themed days, games and more to engage kids on the bus.

Bill Hornsby and Jennifer Perry loading up the bus for a day of meals. School staff often work significant hours to ensure the summer meals program is a success in their community.

12

IMPACT

BY THE NUMBERSWHAT MEALS ARE PROVIDED AT SITES?

Lunch at a Marion County Schools summer feeding site means access to healthy, fresh foods like watermelon, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, and milk.

Data Source: Kentucky Department of Education, November 2019.Note: These percentages exceed 100 percent as many sites served

more than one meal in summer 2019.

8.4%served snack

34%served

breakfast

76%served lunch

26%served supper

Summer meal sponsors may serve one or two meals a day at most sites. Sponsors can choose which combination of meals they would like to serve, with the exception of lunch and supper together. If a camp or site primarily serves migrant children, that site can be approved to serve up to three meals to each child, each day.

54 percent of all sites in Kentucky served only one meal per day. Breakfast tends to be a challenge during the summertime as children often don't wake up early enough to eat on-site. This year, the Kentucky Department of Education encouraged sponsors to serve meals a bit later, with breakfast mid-morning and lunch in the afternoon. Sponsors have some flexibility to make meals work for kids.

13

K-VIP not only creates a new market for Kentucky growers, it is also establishes lifelong ties between kids and the agriculture community. Among the 34 types of Kentucky-grown produce consumed by kids this summer through K-VIP, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, tomatoes, corn, and peaches were the most purchased by schools and nonprofits. Understanding the preferences of kids is critical to harnessing the buying power of this previously untapped marked

for Kentucky farms.

K-VIP also gives summer meal sponsors an additional funding boost to support their efforts. While most sponsors reported K-VIP helped them purchase more Kentucky-grown produce, others shared it expanded mobile meals programs, summer meal kickoffs, aided in the purchase of necessary equipment, and boosted enrichment programming at their summer meal sites.

BEST PRACTICES

KENTUCKY FRUIT AND VEGETABLE INCENTIVE PROGRAM ACCESS TO LOCAL PRODUCE

The Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Program (K-VIP) is a pilot program funded by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board in partnership wtih the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and Kentucky Department of Education. Expenditures by summer meal program sponsors represent a substantial investment in the food system. When this project began in 2017, 164 summer sponsors in Kentucky spent an estimated $3,000,000 on food procurement alone. Anecdotal evidence suggests that very little of that $3,000,000 was spent on Kentucky-grown fruit and vegetables.

K-VIP expands market opportunities for Kentucky’s growers by creating a financial incentive for summer meal sponsors to source from Kentucky farms by funding half of the amount they spend on KY-grown produce. Short-term impact includes increased farm revenue, while long-term impact includes sustained commerce and potential year-round procurement contracts for Kentucky farmers.

In order to empower the kids around the fresh vegetables that we serve through K-VIP, we try to include one meal a week that is chosen by popular vote. One week, the kids actually voted on Zoodles! By a landslide!

Leandra FormanFoodChain

14

PARTNERSHIP SPOTLIGHTUSDA RURAL DEVELOPMENTHilda Legg, Kentucky State Director, USDA Rural Development

IMPACT

HOUSING SITE GROWTH

2017 2018 2019

40

94

127

Hilda Legg, State Director, visits with a family participating in summer meals in Madison County in July 2019.

Martina Leforce, Berea Kids Eat Coordinator, gives a tour of a summer feeding site at Glades Village Apartments in Berea, KY to UDSA Rural Development Director, Hilda Legg, KY Kids Eat Coordinator, Kate McDonald, and Farm to School Program Coordinator, Tina Garland.

access to summer meals. The children either live at a USDA-financed multi-family complex or participated in summer meals at a USDA-financed facility, local school food service, or nonprofit sponsored site. An estimated 40 percent of children living in USDA-financed complexes have access to the Summer Food Service Program.

Summer meals at USDA-financed facilities are just a small part of the greater effort happening in Kentucky. I look forward to expanding our reach even further next summer.

Few things in life are as satisfying as watching a hungry child eat a nutritious meal. No child should go hungry, but once school lets out for the summer, many across the commonwealth of Kentucky may do just that.

An estimated 21 percent of school-aged children are in families living in poverty, and these children may not have access to healthy meals outside the school year.

This summer, USDA Rural Development teamed up with the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Kentucky Department of Education, and numerous community partners and volunteers for the Summer Food Service Program, which helps ensure children continue to get nutritious meals during summer break.

Because of those efforts and partnerships, Kentucky led the nation with 127 locations where nutritious meals and snacks were served, representing a 33 percent increase from 2018 and representing 40 percent of USDA-financed sites reported nationally. The next closest state, Virginia, identified 60 USDA-financed sites that participated.

Children from approximately 4,000 rural Kentucky families had

SITE

S

Data Source: USDA Rural Development, November 2019.

15

The dashboard below provides a snapshot of the data collected by the No Kid Hungry summer texting hotline. Louisville, Lexington and Bowling Green had the highest number of texts in 2019, with June being the most active month for kids and families. Texting participation increased by 53 percent in 2019. Of the 7,865 times kids or families texted to find a summer meal site, only 21 times did the family not live near a summer site. This data helps inform expansion goals for the summer of 2020.

SUMMER MEALS TEXTING HOTLINEHELPS FAMILIES FIND MEALS

IMPACT

The No Kid Hungry summer texting hotline is the easiest way for families to identify where kids can eat a free summer meal. KY Kids Eat Coalition partners and their networks shared the No Kid Hungry summer texting hotline information with communities and families. One of the biggest barriers to participation is awareness of where kids can eat a healthy meal.

With the No Kid Hungry summer texting hotline, users text ‘FOOD’ or ‘COMIDA’ to 877-877, send in their zip code or address, and receive information on up to three meal sites near them. This information includes site name and address, days/dates of operation, meal service times.

Data Source: No Kid Hungry Summer Texting Dashboard, November 2019.

16

For summer meals sites, enrichment activities are recommended but not required. However, meal sites are most successful when paired with enrichment programming. Many sites partnered with local libraries and extension agents, as well as arts, music, and STEM programming. Enrichment at summer meal sites are a great way to prevent the "summer slide," and allows children to engage that may not have resources otherwise.

Libraries are a critical partner for many communities throughout Kentucky, and summer meals and summer reading programs are an excellent fit. Libraries tend to be community hubs for many families with limited resources, and many summer meals are eaten at a library. Book mobiles become a great add-on for mobile meal programs as well, following the meal bus with free books and enrichment throughout the summer.

SUMMER LEARNINGENRICHMENT AT SITES

BEST PRACTICES

The Wolfe County Lunch program asked for community partners and churches who would be interested in assisting with their summer feeding program. The program was interested in providing the lunches to more locations in the county. Without any form of public transportation, parents were challenged to bring their children to the one school location that served the lunches.

The Wolfe County SNAP Ed assistant volunteered to be a part of the summer feeding program Helechawa Park located in a remote area of the county. This location proved to be a high need area with up to 50 lunches being served weekly to the children coming to the park. After each lunch, the SNAP Ed assistant presented a nutrition education lesson and led a hands-on activity with the children. For example, one lesson focused on healthy snacks and the children prepared Yogurt Parfaits. Weather allowing, the children also participated in organized physical activity. Outcome data for Wolfe County’s SNAP Ed youth programs show that 100 percent of participants improved their ability to make healthy food choices and 97 percent increased their level of physical activity.

The SNAP Ed assistant also engaged with the parents accompanying their children to the park. Parents received food samples prepared from the SNAP Ed adult nutrition curriculum, along with the nutrition lessons and the printed recipe.

REACHING MORE FAMILIESWOLFE COUNTYDenise Rennekamp, Kentucky Nutrition Education Program

Children on the Grayson County Schools mobile meal bus reading, Kids of Kentucky, What Will You Be?, a book created for summer meal sites by the Governor's Office of Early Childhood.

Top photo

Partnering with the library for special events throughout the summer helped advertise our program.

Greta CecilBardstown City Schools

17

THANK YOU GUYSGOD'S PANTRY FOOD BANKKatie Landon, Youth Services and Nutrition Manager

STORYTELLING

One of my favorite parts of my job is the task of summer monitoring. The word monitoring sounds a little clinical and intimidating, but it’s the one time that I (as a desk dweller) get to connect with the folks in the community that are serving the meals that I order and plan. For me, I know that most of the sites don’t need a monitoring visit and they are doing everything they can to make sure that kids are getting food in the summer. But visit I must, and so it makes the experience less formal where I can spend more time chatting with the community volunteers, the parents, and the kids and less time staring at paperwork and checking for thermometers in fridges.

This past summer, I was at a housing complex office that had turned into a makeshift summer site. Volunteers dutifully pulled up in their trucks and vans, carefully unloading tables, boxes of food, and tubs of art supplies. Each table made its way into the housing office that had previously only held a small desk and outdated computer. Tables were propped up, each one becoming adorned with a colorful plastic tablecloth and a stack of napkins in a decorative holder. Sack lunches were lined up carefully in rows by type (chips and salsa here, chicken salad there, Cash Express sticky notes denoting each row of meals, next to a variety of milk, and apples and oranges were placed in brightly colored bowls.

A few kids and teens lined up to receive their lunch, parents standing in the back of the room to watch them. The kids thoughtfully selected their meal and their extras to go along with what they had chosen. They all sat down at the festively decorated tables and enjoyed their meal, chatting amongst one another. I sat back, talking to different parents and site volunteers, taking in the site experience.

One girl, a fifth or sixth grader, sat quietly and reflectively, eating her lunch and using colored pencils to draw a variety of characters: a dog with fierce teeth, a cat winking while saying, “Meow!” and a stylish fox with a heart.

The girl shyly smiled and slid one of the drawings over to me without saying a word. The fox, who was wearing an excellently drawn outfit, had the words, “Thank you guys,” written underneath the drawing. We smiled at each other as I tried not to have an emotional outburst in this apartment complex.

Though this young person did not know exactly who I was or why I was there, she was insightful enough to know that I was somehow connected with the food and experience that she had received that day.

2019Feeding KentuckyPO Box 5522Frankfort, KY 40602

(502) 699-2526www.feedingky.org