Schools are giving children sacks of food for weekends

[donsu]

but, but, we are the greatest country in the world?


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0603240249mar24,1,5918660.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Hoping to stem persistent hunger and improve nutrition for poor children, the Chicago Public Schools and Greater Chicago Food Depository are sending kids home from school for the weekend with sacks of food.

More studies are showing that children who don't receive adequate meals at home perform poorly at school, and officials are hoping their program will help reduce childhood hunger and thereby improve academic performance.

"There are so many kids whose parents just don't have the means to provide enough nutrition for the kids, and unfortunately there is a population of kids who just miss meals," said Mike Mulqueen, executive director of the Food Depository.

The program, dubbed Nourish for Knowledge, is active in 16 city schools in low-income neighborhoods, although officials hope it is well-received by parents and can be expanded. About 2,460 Chicago schoolchildren receive the sacks at week's end.

-snip-

Last year, the district launched a summer program to provide full meals for children at more than 400 schools in low-income neighborhoods, regardless of whether or not they were enrolled in school. The school system found great demand, serving about 1.2 million meals through the summer.
-snip-
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are we proud yet

[mdmc]

1. This sounds like a good program

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Good program! Pretty goddamned sad that we have to do it in the US, though

Pretty goddamned sad.

[acmejack]

7. But we have billions to throw away killing innocents

Paying off corrupt dictators god knows where today so we can fight them tomorrow and we have have starving fucking children here. And the idiot in charge is running around telling us about the record they have to run on. Run from is more like the truth.

[SPKrazy]

3. We've Been Doing This In My Town For Several Years

It's sad that this has to happen

It's good that there is a program

But you are right, are we proud yet?

We spend enough in a week in Iraq to feed these kids for a long time.

[snacker]

6. Couldn't have said it better myself.... n/t

[wakeme2008]

4. I have read about this someplace

:shrug:

and they called it something about backpacks. They filled backpacks with food for the weekend.

Good idea.

[Tsiyu]

5. Sounds very good

I would rather see tax dollars go toward nourishing a young scholar than toward a bomb to kill a young scholar in a foreign land.

Kudos to the folks who thought this up

[Bunny]

8. Thank god they're doing this. One thing I can't hande, in this great

land of plenty, is a hungry child. No kid should EVER go hungry.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Programs like this have been in place since the 60s

How sad that we still have to have them.

I teach summer school every year and the food workers stay after school lets out at noon to feed neighborhood kids who aren't enrolled in summer school. For many of them, it is their only meal of the day, especially near the end of the month. You would be shocked by how long that lunch line is.

And don't you know that some uncompassionate conservative will soon begin to argue that we shouldn't be in the business of giving food to people. That was my first thought when I saw this story.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. I knew teachers who "found" reasons the child had to attend summer school

because they knew the kid would get one nourishing meal a day, even if it was a 'snack' meal. Likewise parents who made their kids go to summer rec or enrichment programs specifically because the kids would be fed.

[donco6]

16. Bob Beauprez believes that -

I've lobbied him for three years to eliminate the reduced-lunch category and combine it with free. He believes parents should be responsible to feed their kids, and that we shouldn't have a lunch program at all.

And now he's running for Colo governor. If there is a God - help us!

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. We need to hit them hard with the alternative

of letting kids starve in the United States of America. Unlike medical care, hungry kids don't get food when the govt stops providing it. No way could the food pantries meet the need.

[donco6]

10. We've done the summer feeding program.

The only problem with that one is that they have to come to the school to eat. We had to drop it because we didn't qualify at enough schools.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. It is in place at every summer school site in my district

And has been as long as I can remember.

[donco6]

15. We do have free breakfast at two schools.

But you have to exceed 50% free lunch for two years to qualify. All of our schools hit the 43, 44% mark, but only two exceed 50 consistently.

It's hard to get people to fill out the forms. We have quite a few illegals, and they don't want to fill out anything. Understandably so, these days.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Ain't that the truth?

We have a medical and dental clinic at my school and accessing those services gets our forms filled out. But I know it is a BIG problem in other schools without a clinic.

[LWolf]

12. We have a state paid program,

"Family Action Network," or FAN, that has a part time rep with an office in our building. She organizes a food bank that operates every Wednesday in the cafeteria, makes sure that all kids who need medical care, wellness checks, dental, vision, etc., get what they need, provides coats, clothes, and school supplies to the kids who need them, etc..

[aquart]

14. In America, our children are starving. Ain't that nice.

[donsu]

18. another sentence that should be embroidered, framed and hung

IN AMERICA, OUR CHILDREN ARE STARVING. AIN'T THAT NICE.