Thanks to savings found in the city budget, up to 8,000 kids in need could be receiving backpacks full of food this summer.
An assembly line of sorts is working overtime at God’s Pantry Food Bank to make it happen.
"We have volunteers packing the backpacks that will be used to distribute with the promotional flyer about summer feeding," says God’s Pantry CEO Marian Guinn.
The backpacks are a first for the organization’s annual summer Kids Eat Here program, which provides free meals to kids in June and July at more than 40 locations throughout town.
"This is really about outreach and hoping to connect more children to the summer feeding opportunities and I think what's important for parents to realize is that they don't have to fill out a form to eat a meal at a summer feeding site. There isn't a lot of red tape. They really just need to show up," she says.
Guinn says the intent is to supplement the free or reduced lunch program, which sometimes fails to provide a stable enough source of food for kids.
Lexington will spend close to $55,000 on the summer meals program this year.
