Gypsy Hill Park Being Used a Feeding Site For Children At Risk of Hunger

STAUNTON, VA (06/07/2010)(readMedia)-- The Staunton Parks and Recreation Department is collaborating with the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and the Boys and Girls Club to help feed hungry children this Summer. The City is providing the shelter behind Armory in Gypsy Hill Park as a feeding site for community children and teens. Gypsy Hill Park is a perfect centralized location with easy access during the lunchtime hours. The Parks and Recreation Department knows there are hungry children and teens in the park during the Summer months. Area teens stop by the gym in Gypsy Hill Park on a regular basis and request food from the gym supervisor. This year the department anticipated there would be no exception to the on-going hunger problem and it would probably be worse for hungry children and teens given the state of the economy and lack of household funds for food and groceries. When the Boys and Girls Club and the BRAFB approached the Staunton Parks and Recreation Department for a possible feeding site within the parks and recreation facilities, the department jumped at the chance to help fulfill a critical basic need - food for our hungry children and teens. The Parks and Recreation Department is proud to lend their resources and be a feeding site for the community's hungry youth. The Summer Food Service Program is a very worthwhile effort and will affect many area youth in a postive fashion.

The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank will participate in the USDA's Summer Food Service Program, sponsoring 25 feeding sites June through August for children at risk of going hungry in Augusta and Rockingham counties and the cities of Staunton, Waynesboro and Harrisonburg.

The Summer Food Service Program is designed to reach children who may not get nutritious meals at home over the summer, particularly students who receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year.

Thanks to a $50,000 ConAgra Hunger-Free Summer Grant, the Food Bank is offering a new component of the Summer Food Service Program this year. The grant funds four new feeding sites in Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County and provides part-time jobs to 10 teens.

In total, the Food Bank will reach 2,312 children at 25 local sites through the Summer Food Service Program, a 21% increase over last summer.

About the ConAgra Hunger-Free Summer Grant

The grant provides the following:

* Meals to more than 800 children through a partnership with Waynesboro City Schools and the Staunton and Waynesboro chapters of the Boys & Girls Club.

* Part-time jobs to 10 teens who will help prepare and deliver meals through the Boys & Girls Club's Career Launch program.

* Monthly grocery boxes packed with 20 meals delivered to more than 100 children in Craigsville throughout the summer. Craigsville Elementary School has a high-need student population.

The grant will fund the following sites June 14 – Aug. 13 where any child, regardless of income, can stop in and receive a free, hot meal.

* 11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. Gypsy Hill Park shelter (behind the Armory)

* Noon – 1 p.m. Wenonah Elementary School, Waynesboro

* Noon – 1 p.m. Building Blocks, Waynesboro

Meals will be provided to all children without charge and are the same for all children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, and there will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service.

Contact: Ruth Jones

800.296.3663, ext. 1006

rjones@brafb.org