A child’s summer should be filled with simple joys – months filled with playing in the sun, swimming at the lake or playing baseball in the park.
However, that’s not necessarily the case for the more than 22 million children who may lose access to school meal programs when school lets out. This means that, for many children in need, even basic staples like milk – and its nine essential nutrients, including protein – are missing.
There are public programs in place to help feed children during the summer, but according to USDA, these programs are only reaching 3 million of the 22 million children who receive free or reduced-price lunch during the school year. This is why food banks play a critical role in reaching children with the food they need during the summer months.
It’s startling, but on average, food banks are only able to provide the equivalent of less than one gallon of milk per person, per year, which means that children and families facing hunger may be missing out on essential nutrients. The Great American Milk Drive is working to change that – and you can help.
In honor of National Dairy Month, you can help The Great American Milk Drive support children and fuel the joy of summertime in your own community. Doesn’t every kid deserve the energy and nutrients that can help them make the most of each day?
You can help provide a child with the nutrients needed to fuel the simple joys of summer through social media. For each “Feed A Childhood” post shared with hashtag #MilkDrive $1 will go to Feeding America to help deliver fresh milk to people in need.**
Since 2014, Feeding America has partnered with The Great American Milk Drive to help supply its nationwide network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs with highly requested milk. And it’s because of people like you that to date, more than 700,000 gallons — that’s over 11 million servings – have been delivered to families across the country. However, there’s still so much more to do.
*Victor Zaborsky is the Vice President of Marketing at MilkPEP (Milk Processor Education Program). He leads The Great American Milk Drive and is passionate about helping to get more nutritious milk to people in need.
** For each share of Great American Milk Drive “Feed A Childhood” content with hashtag #milkdrive via Facebook and X between 6/1/16 – 6/30/16, The Great American Milk Drive will contribute $1 to the Feeding America® network for the purchase of fluid milk, up to a maximum total donation of $5,000.