First Free Meal Truck for Kids Hits Streets of New Haven

New Haven School Food and United Way of Greater New Haven are revving up the New Haven Summer Food Truck to hit the road on Monday, July 25th at 9am at 75 Barnes Ave, New Haven.  Generously donated by United Way to New Haven Public Schools, the Summer Food Truck will deliver free, nutritious meals to New Haven kids and teens,18 & under, throughout the rest of summer. New Haven School Food and United Way are partners in the Connecticut No Kid Hungry Campaign, an initiative led by End Hunger Connecticut!, Governor Malloy, and Share Our Strength, to end childhood hunger in Connecticut by 2015.  This is the first food truck to serve summer meals to children and youth in Connecticut. 

In households with children, almost 1 in 5 or 18.7% struggle to put food on the table, which means that more than 127,000 Connecticut children are considered food insecure1. In New Haven, more than 75% of the students qualified for free and reduced price school meals in 2010. However, of students enrolled in school meals programs, only one in four received meals through the federally-funded Summer Food Service Program last summer. Kids and teens do not stop needing healthy meals when school is out. In fact, summer can be one of the toughest times for families relying on school food programs to help them make ends meet.

Good nutrition is an essential building block for healthy growth and development and educational success. Often times, the biggest barrier for kids and teens to participate in the free summer meals program is simply not being able to get there. Embracing Governor Malloy’s Connecticut No Kid Hungry Campaign charge - “We’ve gotta make this work for everybody. We’re gonna make this work in Connecticut.”-  United Way and New Haven School Food are tackling the transportation barrier by bringing meals to kids and teens where they live.

United Way’s Summer Food Truck grant to the New Haven Public Schools will make it possible to deliver two meals per weekday – 1,000 free meals a day-- to children living in underserved neighborhoods throughout New Haven.  Federal funds pay for the cost of the program

Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman, along with other elected officials, will be in attendance to kick-off the New Haven Summer Food Truck program and help make sure that there is No Kid Hungry in Connecticut!

If you have any questions, please contact Kathy Hart-Jones at (203) 691-4202 or via email at khartjones@uwgnh.org