When school pauses for the summer, school-provided lunches pause with it. Philabundance and The GIANT Company fill that gap for children in Philabundance’s nine-county service area through the Summer LunchBox Program. This year, the program runs the entire 10-week span of summer, June 17 – Aug. 22.
Together, Philabundance and The GIANT Company will provide up to 40,000 free, fresh, and ready-to-eat lunches; 20,000 pantry-friendly breakfast kits; and 10,000 “Rainy Day” frozen breakfasts, made by Philabundance Community Kitchen and available at any of Philabundance’s youth-serving community partners in its nine-county service area. A list of participating partners is included below.
“For tens of thousands of children across the Greater Philadelphia region, summer vacation is not just a break from school, but also a break from the reliability of school meals,” said Loree D. Jones Brown, CEO, Philabundance. “Our children should go to bed tired out from summer fun, not from hunger. Thanks to generous funding from our valued corporate partner The GIANT Company and other partnerships, Philabundance will continue to help fill the summer meal gap through our LunchBox program, an important addition to our year-round efforts providing food for those in need, and their children.”
LunchBox meals are prepared by students at PCK, a culinary job training program for adults with low to no income. Most meals will be fresh, while others are shelf-stable or frozen for later preparation. Each week, these free and nutritious meals with items like wraps, salads, fruits, vegetables, and milk will be distributed through 25 of Philabundance’s community partners:
- William D. Kelley School
- Alexander K. McClure Elementary
- Small Things
- Children’s Mission Inc.
- Iglesia Cristiana Avivamiento
- Bebashi
- Turning Points for Children
- William T. Tilden Middle School
- Mighty Writers
- Mighty Writers-Camden
- El Futuro
- Feast of Justice
- PAL-Harrowgate
- PAL-Wynnefield
- PAL-Ford
- Christ Lutheran Community Church
- Murphy’s Giving Market
- ICNA Relief
- Mattie Dixon Community Cupboard
- Pottstown Cluster Religious Communities
- Bucks County Opportunity Council
- Chester County Food Bank
- SisterHood Inc.
- Mid-Atlantic States Career & Education
- Victory Assembly of God
