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MALDEN, MA – Today, Assistant Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Katherine Clark (MA-5) joined Project Bread, the state’s leading anti-hunger organization, for a Summer Eats stop at MacDonald Stadium. During the event, kids and teens received free lunch, a hot chicken sandwich, distributed from the Malden Public Schools’ (MPS) food truck. Summer Eats is a federally-reimbursed program that provides free meals for kids and teens at hundreds of sites across Massachusetts. Participating partners, including MPS, provide anyone under the age of 18 with one free meal a day, five days a week, at Summer Eats locations. Clark was also joined by Malden Mayor Gary Christenson; Massachusetts State Senator Jason Lewis; State Representatives Paul Donato, Steve Ultrino, and Kate Lipper-Garabedian; and staff from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). “It is unacceptable for anyone in this country – especially our children – to go hungry,” said Assistant Speaker Clark. “I was honored to join Project Bread today to bring awareness to Summer Eats and their incredible work providing lunch to children and their families during the summer months. As Americans continue to recover from the pandemic, Democrats are working every day in Washington to lower costs for families and provide immediate solutions to those need, including free meals for students in need.” In March 2021, Congress enacted the American Rescue Plan, which took significant steps to reduce hunger across the country, strengthen the food supply chain, and end food insecurity, including provisions to:
Last month, Democrats also passed, and President Biden signed the Keep Kids Fed Act to extend the flexibility and funding needed to keep getting healthy food to America’s students. Free school meals have been the number one source of free food throughout the pandemic—a critical resource for the 1 in 5 households with children and 1 in 3 households of color with children who struggle to afford enough food and rely daily on those free school meals. Local leaders like our Malden Public Schools officials have been critical and steadfast community supports during this crisis, providing a wide variety of resources to residents, especially to youth and families even when schools are closed. For more than 20 years, Project Bread, through its Child Nutrition Outreach Program (CNOP), has worked in partnership with the DESE to provide youth with access to Summer Eats across the state. Any child or teen 18 and younger can eat at more than 500 sites statewide for free. No registration or ID is required. Last summer, more than 7.5 million meals were served through the program. People experiencing food insecurity should call into Project Bread’s toll-free FoodSource Hotline (1-800-645-8333), which provides confidential assistance to connect with food resources, including SNAP benefits, in 180 languages and for the hearing impaired. For more information, visit: www.projectbread.org/get-help. Photos of today’s event can be found HERE. # # #
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