First Citywide Day of Outreach Educates New York City Families About Hundreds of Free Summer Meal Sites for Kids Throughout Five Boroughs

Coalition of Volunteers, Non-Profit Organizations and City Agencies Join Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry Campaign to Spread the Word by Distributing More than 1,000,000 Postcards and Posters Promoting Summer Meals

NEW YORK, July 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Share Our Strength's New York City No Kid Hungry® Campaign and the New York City Coalition Against Hunger are hosting a day of outreach to promote free summer meals for kids in New York City this Saturday, July 16. They will be joined by the City Harvest, Citizen's Committee for Children of New York and the Food Bank For New York City as well as several city government agencies to distribute postcards and posters in key locations such as playgrounds, community centers and Laundromats.

"Although 21 million kids in the U.S. rely on a free or reduced-price school lunch during the school year, less than 3 million get summer meals when schools are closed," said Billy Shore, founder and executive director of Share Our Strength, a national organization that is promoting summer meals campaigns in more than 10 states.  "This day of outreach will help connect more New York City kids to the nutritious food they need this summer."

More than 1,000 summer breakfast and lunch sites across New York City in all five boroughs serve free meals to kids. The goal of the outreach day is for volunteers to distribute information throughout area neighborhoods to inform parents about neighborhood sites where any child under 18 years of age and younger, can obtain free breakfasts and/or lunches, without any paperwork or applications. Currently, only a fraction of eligible kids participate in part because they don't know about the program. Families can also call 311 to find a site in their neighborhood.

"Children burn more calories over the summer but have less access to nutritious foods, often facing hunger at the very worst time," said Joel Berg, the executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH), one of the main groups organizing this volunteer event. "That's why we are asking New Yorkers to volunteer to help us get the word out that nutritious meals are free and hassle-free in neighborhoods across the City."

Volunteers will meet in Manhattan at 10:00 a.m. at the New York City Rescue Mission where canvassers will gather for a short speaking program and one volunteer will win a special raffle lunch and a tour of the Food Network Kitchen. Volunteers will also be meeting at sites in Harlem, the Bronx, Staten Island, and Queens to conduct outreach.  Canvassers will then depart for key locations across the five boroughs to distribute more than materials that promote free summer meals. The city-wide canvass is part of an effort to distribute a total of 1,000,000 pieces of promotional materials through the New York City No Kid Hungry Campaign via city agencies and non-profit partners.

Community outreach activities are vital to raising awareness about the summer meals program because seven out of 10 children who receive school lunches during the school year do not receive free summer meals through the federally-funded Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), even though more than 400,000 New York City children live in homes that cannot afford enough food.

"This Day of Outreach helps us get the word out that we offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to youngsters 18 and younger," said Eric Goldstein, CEO of School Support Services. "Thanks to Share Our Strength and other nonprofit agencies and our sister City agencies for helping to make this day happen. We want everyone to know that we offer delicious and nutritious meals throughout all five boroughs all summer through September 2."   

"It is gratifying to know that so many New Yorkers care enough about their neighbors to come out on a summer day to help spread the word about free summer meals for our kids," said Assemblymember Grace Meng, who will be part of the outreach effort in Flushing on Saturday. "Together, we can make a difference for so many children who needlessly face hunger. This is an unprecedented joint effort between some of the New York's leading nonprofit organizations and the city to make our children healthier and stronger."

Share Our Strength is also spearheading several additional initiatives to promote summer meals for kids in New York City including:

• Radio PSA featuring New York Knicks star Chauncey Billups that is airing across 5 New York City radio stations including WCBS, WINS, WQHT, WBLS, WRKS, WWPR

• Bilingual community newspaper ads featuring Billups running for two weeks across Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx

• Taxi top advertisements publicizing calling 311 for free summer meal information throughout the month of July

• Hundreds of thousands of post cards distributed at more than 350 city agency locations and 400 banners distributed across the city to promote free summer meal sites.

Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry campaigns in 13 cities and states across the country are working to connect kids to summer meals programs. In 2011 alone, Share Our Strength will invest more than $1.6 million in national, state and community-based organizations in 35 states to help increase the number of kids getting summer meals.

No Kid Hungry campaigns bring together anti-hunger organizations, elected officials, education leaders, government agencies, corporate sponsors and community leaders to launch aggressive and targeted awareness campaigns to help connect families to summer meals programs and other federally-funded programs such as school breakfast and afterschool meal programs.  

For more information about Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry Campaign efforts to connect kids to summer meals programs, visit www.Strength.org/Summer.

About Share Our Strength
Share Our Strength®, a national nonprofit, is ending childhood hunger in America by connecting children with the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives. Through its No Kid Hungry® Campaign--a national effort to end childhood hunger in America by 2015-- Share Our Strength ensures children in need are enrolled in federal nutrition programs, invests in community organizations fighting hunger, teaches families how to cook healthy, affordable meals, and builds public-private partnerships to end hunger, nationally and at the state and city levels. Visit www.Strength.org to get involved.

About The New York City Coalition Against Hunger
The New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) represents and is the voice for the more than 1,200 nonprofit soup kitchens and food pantries in New York City and the more than 1.4 million low-income New Yorkers who live in households that can't afford enough food. The coalition works not only to meet these residents' immediate food needs but also to enact innovative solutions to help society move "beyond the soup kitchen" to ensure economic and food self-sufficiency for all Americans.

Contact:
Risa Heller | [email protected] | 917-647-9187

SOURCE Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry