Summer program feeds kids
By Laura Newberry | June 15, 2011 Robin Nease, a working-class Longwood resident, feared that her children would fall into this increasingly common category.
Two years ago, Nease was let go from Bill Heard Chevrolet after significant layoffs within the company, and she lost her other job due to disability. She was left with a decision: find help, or watch her children go hungry.
Nease found refuge in Kids of HOPE, an enrichment program that provides lunches during school breaks for children in Seminole County and the surrounding areas.
"I'm very sad because I can't provide for my children like I used to when I had two jobs. I'm only part time and it's really hurting us," Nease said. "With this program I don't have to worry about food and can concentrate on major bills."
The Kids of HOPE program began in 2009, shortly after Nease abruptly found herself and her family in a state of impoverishment. Nease said that for the past three summers she has come to collect food for her children, ages 14 and 16, every Thursday.
The HOPE program just began for the season, and according to Jailene Warren, the HOPE food pantry coordinator, 437 children are already signed up to receive daily lunches until school resumes in August. Over 700 kids are expected to be served by the end of the summer.
The program's formula is simple: parents can come in alone, or with their children, and pick up five lunch bags for each of their kids. Generally, parents will come only once a week, on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday.
Each lunch bag includes a small box of cereal, a non-perishable meal (such as individual ravioli entrees), fruit and two snacks.
Kids of HOPE runs during spring and Christmas breaks in addition to summer vacation.
"Parents come here to get their lunches when they normally wouldn't come to a food pantry because they're ashamed," Warren said. "They will come to get food for their kid. Then we can help them access other services."
According to Warren, childhood hunger is a far more common crisis in Seminole County than most people realize -- so much so that the area was featured in a CBS 60 Minutes segment that highlighted the problem.
The segment showed Seminole County public school busses stopping at motels to pick students up, and local children explaining to the reporter what it feels like to be hungry.
The show also provided startling statistics, like the fact that more than 1,000 Seminole County students have recently lost their homes.
"After the show ran, people were shocked that this was happening in Seminole County," said Joan Faulkner, the director of development and marketing for HOPE. "People think of it as a more well-off community and were surprised that there are children that are hungry here."
"The median is skewed. I think we all recognize that. Though Oviedo's median income is about $70,000, that number is driven by a very small contingency of wealthy people. I have 1,600 clients in my books and 70 percent live in Oviedo or Winter Springs," Warren said.
Since the program aired, Kids of HOPE has seen an increased outpouring of generosity from the community. Local churches, schools and restaurants keep the HOPE pantry stocked and allow for the giving out of what will be almost 12,000 lunches by the end of the summer.
Whole Foods Market, Publix, Chipotle and Panera are among a few of the business that regularly donate to the cause.
Although food distribution is the primary goal of Kids of HOPE, the program coordinators also try to aid the children's emotional well-being through little efforts such as making sure the lunch bags are decorated.
Children in schools, mothers looking for craft projects, and churches are among a few groups that have decorated bags for HOPE.
"They get more excited about the bag sometimes than the food. People put notes in them like, 'Have a great day,' or 'Enjoy your lunch,' " Warren said. "We're able to wrap our arms around the community and provide them with not just their basic needs, but the understanding that we do love them."
The festive bagged lunches are what get the parents in the door, but according to Warren, the program wants to go above and beyond lunch distribution.
"I don't want them to just come in and pick up five lunch bags for their kids and walk away - I want them to sign up for our food pantry and come and get food for the rest of the meals," Warren said. "I want them to come in and see our resource center and have an intake with the case manager. I want them to talk about why they're in a situation where they need food in the first place."
Once a case manager assesses a family's situation, they are able to help meet the needs of the family. Services can vary, from assisting people in finding a new job to paying for a family's electric bill.
"During the course of this summer program we want to get every one of the families that's involved in the program to apply for food stamps, even if they've been denied before. The reasons you get denied for food stamps is a myriad of reasons, and they'll try once and give up," Warren said.
Warren said that HOPE primarily deals with two kinds of people: the generational poor and the new poor.
The generational poor, or working poor, are people who have jobs (often minimum wage) but they aren't able to make enough money to provide for their families. The new poor, on the other hand, are those that have been hit worst by the recession.
"It's the first time they've ever been in poverty. It's a first-time crisis," Warren said.
"I see the families that come in here, and it's like middle class America is starting to converge into the lower class. These people don't have that roadmap like people that have been living in generational poverty," Wright said.
Krissy Todd, the CEO of HOPE, said Seminole County residents are especially susceptible to being unaware of the programs available to them in the area. Todd explained that there are no Title 1 schools in Winter Springs or Oviedo, which causes a lack of food programs for children.
Although this predicament stalls the progress of HOPE, volunteers and supporters of the program still strive to make an impact.
"As long as we have food on the shelves, we'll be giving out lunches down to the last item," Warren said. "I don't want to see one more child go hungry in Seminole county."
A big Thank You!! goes out to Laura Newberry for taking the time to write about our Kids of HOPE Program!
Want to participate and volunteer? Sign up for one of our Volunteer Training and Orientations! You can find all the information you need about volunteering for HOPE on our ways to get involved page on our website!
Want to donate? Check out our donation page on our website!
www.hopehelps.org
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