No Hungry Child Free Lunch Program
While many students look forward to breaks from school as a time for hanging out with friends, riding bikes through the neighborhood or playing a game of soccer in the park, for other children this break may mean missing their only reliable meal of the day.
During the spring break from school, Marion-Polk Food Share works with local community partners to bring nutritious foods to children throughout the two-county area.
Marion-Polk Food Share has been providing spring break lunches in the Salem-Keizer area since 1993 when school teachers took notice that some of their students would be going without food during this break from school. These teachers asked MPFS for assistance and the No Hungry Child Program thus began. Beginning with just a few sites in the Salem-Keizer area in 1993, we have since expanded our services to include sites in rural Marion and Polk Counties as well, serving more than 6,000 lunches each year to children.
During spring break, children receive a brown bag lunch consisting of a nutritious sandwich, fruit, vegetable and milk. Many of these sites also provide a 30 minute session of organized enrichment activities in addition to lunch, and free books are given to the children through a partnership with Reading for All, a literacy initiative of the Marion County Children and Families Commission.
The site locations are determined based on the percentage of school-enrolled children who are eligible for free and reduced priced lunches. This year, the Oregon Department of Education is reporting that 58% of Salem-Keizer School District’s students are eligible for free and reduced priced lunches, up from 48% last year. Although the site determination is based upon the percentage of eligibility, the program is available on a drop-in basis to any child and teen between the ages of 1-18, regardless of family income.
If you have further questions about the No Hungry Child Program or if you would like to volunteer, please call 503-581-3855 or
mpfsonline@marionpolkfoodshare.org