File photo: Shikellamy Middle School cafeteria
SUNBURY – A busy community effort has a big day today. In the Shikellamy School district, the Caring for Kids program gives out food bags today. Matthew Mitchell, food service director at Shikellamy helps coordinate the giveaways at the school during the school year, and at two locations in the summer.
“On Thursdays, the students of the school district can come to the A Community Clinic on Market Street in Sunbury (or Second Street Playground in Northumberland), and pick up bags of food. The bags will include two lunches, two cereals, or three cereals and snacks for them to carry over through into the weekend,” he said.
Students, volunteers, teachers, and many others team up for the effort today. Organizers say food insecurity is more pronounced for some children during the summer, “So what we found is, over the weekend, when there is no availability for some food, like at the playground where the YMCA from Milton supplies lunches, so we found that there’s the need for the weekend.
He said, “We decided what we would do is offer these bags on Thursday to carry the students through on the weekend so that they have that food security at home.”
Caring for Kids, which operates under the auspices of A Community Clinic, is open to any children in the district. Funding for the program comes from the Degenstein and Moyer Foundations, as well as private donations.
