Summer is supposed to be for fun, but for the Juvenile Welfare Board and the St Pete Free Clinic, it’s a time to make sure families in need have what they need to put healthy meals on the table. For an update on my original blog, I add a conversation I had this week with JWB CEO Beth Houghton on their hard work to be proactive with the programs to fill those food gaps in the community.
With school out, and students no longer having access to free meals at school, there’s help to help pack the fridge with free fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and more. Pinellas County families in need are welcome to join the Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) and St. Petersburg Free Clinic (SPFC) for drive-through mobile food pantries. For the remaining list of events please check here. Each family receives approximately 52 pounds of food. But this is on a first come, first served basis that begins and noon and is scheduled to end at noon.
Beth said it best. “A perfect storm is brewing for struggling families. Summer is always a challenge, given so many children count on school meals for their daily nutrition. This summer is particularly tough since a pandemic-initiated stipend of $300 per child has ended for families who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, otherwise known as Summer EBT. This comes at a time of high housing, utility, and food costs, and the gap-weeks before and after summer school are of particular concern.”
For more on the important work of the JWB please take a moment to view their work, and how you can help.
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM ANN KELLY’S KITCHEN
I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for the minds and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr