By Kenneth Partridge
Staff Reporter
During the school year, an estimated 630 Greenwich students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and snacks through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast program.
In the summer months, though, when they’re out of the classroom, few youngsters have access to free meals.
With this mind, local non-profit organization Neighbor to Neighbor has created a “Summer Supplemental Food Program.”
The initiative gives families with school-aged children a chance to take more items from the agency’s food pantry than they would ordinarily be given.
“The children are home for the summer and they’re eating more,” said Mary de Barros, Neighbor to Neighbor program director. “We want to make sure the children are getting enough food.”
It’s an idea that’s catching on elsewhere, she said, explaining that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced a similar program.
The idea for the supplement program didn’t come from Mr. Bloomberg, though. Ms. de Barros said Neighbor to Neighbor board members developed the plan after thinking about their own families.
“They started discussing their children at home,” Ms. de Barros said. “They realized their own children at home are eating more.”
“It just made sense to us,” said Julie Ricciardi, president of the Neighbor to Neighbor board of directors. “The supplement is really to provide lunch foods – bread, peanut butter, jelly.”
With the larger-than-normal food distributions come increased costs, Ms. de Barros said, adding that while the agency gets some of its food through drives and donations, it also purchases some through food banks and grocery stores.
“It’s more expensive,” she said. “It does put a stress on the inventory.”
As a result, she’s encouraging community members to pitch in and drip off certain key items, such as boxes of cereal. Each day, she said, Neighbor to Neighbor volunteers update a list of the top five in-demand items. The information is available by calling the center at 622-9208.
So far, Ms. de Barros said, people have been willing to help. Students from Greenwich Country Day School volunteer throughout the summer, and they’ve also been donating money for fresh fruits and vegetables.
“What makes it work is the generosity of our donors,” Ms. Ricciardi said. “We rely on individuals and families who pick up extra groceries at Costco or the grocery store and bring it by. We’ll get a mother and her kids stopping by with six boxes of cereal and three crates of juice.”
Ms. de Barros said the agency serves about 300 Greenwich families each week, with about half qualifying for the supplement program. Each visit, she added, clients are given enough food to last each member of their family three days.
She said she hopes to continue the program in the future, provided the pantry gets enough donations to make it work.
Heidi Blume, a Neighbor to Neighbor client and mother five, said the extra food will be a big help.
“It’s hard during the summer,” she told the Post as volunteers helped bag her family’s groceries. “I’ve never come here gotten this much food before.”
“I have boys,” she added. “They eat a lot.”
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