Southern Pines, NC – The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina today announces their participation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture funded Child and Adult Care Food Program. Meals will be available at no separate charge to enrolled participants. Children who are TANF recipients or who are members of SNAP or FDPIR households or are Head Start participants, are automatically eligible to receive free meal benefits.
Children attending the Boys and Girls Club Sandhills Trinity and Aberdeen are eligible to receive hot meals at their after-school program.
“We know that healthy, nutritious meals are a huge part of what helps children be successful and prepared to learn,” said Dana Ellis, the Food Bank’s Senior Manager, Child Nutrition and Federal Food Program. “We encourage all parents and guardians of kids in these afterschool programs to reach out to their program directors to inquire about the ability to participate in the opportunity to receive hot meals.”
The Food Bank is expanding the Child and Adult Care Food Program across its service area, from 2 sites last year to 8 this year in 34 counties. There is a potential to further expand the program in early 2018.
About the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina
The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina is a nonprofit organization that has provided food for people at risk of hunger in 34 counties in central and eastern North Carolina for more than 35 years. The Food Bank serves a network of more than 800 partner agencies such as soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, and programs for children and adults through warehouses in Durham, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh, the Sandhills (Southern Pines), and Wilmington. In fiscal year 2016-2017, the Food Bank distributed 70 million pounds of food (over half of which was perishable) and non-food essentials through these agencies. Sadly, hunger remains a serious problem in central and eastern North Carolina. In these counties, more than 600,000 people struggle to access nutritious and adequate amounts of food necessary for an active and healthy life. www.foodbankcenc.org
