Casey Calls for Expanded Eligibility for Summer Feeding Programs, Alerts Pennsylvanians to Feeding Sites for Vulnerable Children

June 18, 2015

Over 850,000 PA Children Receive Nutrition Assistance During School Year But Many Go Hungry During Summer Months / Over 2,000 Sites Across PA Ensure Children Don’t Go Hungry While School Is Out / At Least 9 out of 10 Eligible Children in PA Aren’t Taking Advantage of Program

Washington DC- With school out for the summer and food insecurity continuing for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania children, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), highlighting county by county data, called for expanded eligibility for summer feeding programs while alerting Pennsylvanians to over 2,000 feeding sites across the state. Over 850,000 Pennsylvania children receive free or reduced price meals at school during the school year, yet many go hungry during the summer months. At least nine out of ten eligible children in Pennsylvania aren’t taking advantage of the program. To find a summer food site, visit pasummermeals.com or call the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8-HAMBRE.

“Hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation. Hunger is one of the most severe roadblocks in the learning process. Lack of nutrition during the summer months may set up a cycle of poor performance once school begins again,” Senator Casey said. “We need to make the summer feeding program accessible to more children, which is why I am supporting legislation to lower the threshold to allow areas with 40 percent or more of students receiving free or reduced meals to be eligible for the open enrollment program.”

The bipartisan Summer Meals Act of 2015, S. 61, first introduced by Senators Gillibrand (NY) and Murkowski (R-AK) would improve the summer food program for children, in preparation for reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act. Specifically it would:

Improve the area eligibility test to allow communities to participate if 40 percent of the children in the area are eligible for free or reduced-price meals (rather than 50 percent)
Provide funding for transportation grants to fund innovative approaches and mobile meal trucks
Allow local government agencies and private nonprofit organizations to feed children year-round through the Summer Food Service Program
Allow all sites to serve a third meal (rather than 2 meals and a snack)

Below you will find county by county data on the program:

SFSP County Profile - Year 2013-2014
County	TOTAL	Average Daily Participation (ADP) During SFSP Ops	Total Lunches Served During SFSP Ops
Sponsors	Sites	June	July	August	June	July	August	Total
ADAMS	9	9	224	320	79	1572	4951	382	6905
ALLEGHENY	275	63	5799	9492	5513	74441	211885	62007	348333
ARMSTRONG	14	5	223	219	193	2475	4860	1945	9280
BEAVER	70	27	1370	1482	852	18480	32640	10822	61942
BEDFORD	5	5	245	152	30	2691	2354	299	5344
BERKS	19	2	609	525	0	6778	14901	0	21679
BLAIR	15	6	1406	1227	718	10652	26516	1642	38810
BRADFORD	10	3	167	180	32	1576	4600	497	6673
BUCKS	20	19	420	782	365	4420	17195	5901	27516
BUTLER	9	4	107	162	148	1171	2759	2202	6132
CAMBRIA	22	22	608	589	329	6737	12855	3611	23203
CAMERON	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CARBON	6	3	159	223	163	1369	4962	2016	8347
CENTRE	19	9	445	467	230	6491	10151	3669	20311
CHESTER	14	14	247	346	414	2719	7646	3905	14270
CLARION	7	6	148	87	52	1632	1475	445	3552
CLEARFIELD	12	9	267	231	237	3491	4983	3428	11902
CLINTON	2	2	0	18	0	0	279	0	279
COLUMBIA	14	7	222	303	182	3547	6743	1998	12288
CRAWFORD	1	1	195	186	194	2924	4090	3096	10110
CUMBERLAND	23	7	242	257	184	3136	4942	1956	10034
DAUPHIN	51	38	1434	1293	191	20512	27395	2123	50030
DELAWARE	35	12	165	1422	830	1344	31025	11053	43422
ELK	4	4	95	0	0	1139	0	0	1139
ERIE	99	81	1436	1962	1206	22259	42737	14869	79865
FAYETTE	94	93	856	1985	697	8477	48976	7869	65322
FOREST	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FRANKLIN	12	7	454	464	335	2981	9866	2115	14962
FULTON	2	2	24	29	30	356	604	326	1286
GREENE	19	19	492	441	122	5424	7785	1333	14542
HUNTINGDON	2	1	0	35	0	0	706	0	706
INDIANA	13	9	218	460	64	2884	3625	589	7098
JEFFERSON	2	2	79	58	90	1250	1256	1259	3765
JUNIATA	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
LACKAWANNA	34	32	47	755	320	515	18700	4388	23603
LANCASTER	49	6	1100	1236	711	13138	24531	8997	46666
LAWRENCE	29	10	506	524	288	7014	12196	6157	25367
LEBANON	15	6	217	330	197	3533	7084	3209	13826
LEHIGH	67	66	607	1731	661	3341	37504	9149	49994
LUZERNE	132	30	1846	2151	1623	11391	47404	18582	77377
LYCOMING	10	4	193	233	84	2591	4922	1311	8824
MCKEAN	12	11	106	221	33	1146	5092	353	6591
MERCER	25	22	535	1066	474	5104	9556	4403	19063
MIFFLIN	6	3	159	48	23	1606	856	205	2667
MONROE	7	7	56	168	60	333	4189	661	5183
MONTGOMERY	57	41	990	1611	1053	10039	36757	17268	64064
MONTOUR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
NORTHAMPTON	47	47	811	1353	432	11832	28546	6280	46658
NORTHUMBERLAND	23	5	468	418	219	6786	8545	2915	18246
PERRY	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PHILADELPHIA	1020	31	615	31571	27362	3921	885826	580089	1469836
PIKE	2	2	171	233	239	1914	7340	4133	13387
POTTER	4	4	41	0	0	582	0	0	582
SCHUYLKILL	29	17	954	834	544	15644	19292	7768	42704
SNYDER	4	4	83	75	25	1062	1515	25	2602
SOMERSET	20	10	158	261	209	1998	5129	3358	10485
SULLIVAN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
SUSQUEHANNA	7	7	63	99	45	435	1875	178	2488
TIOGA	7	6	108	114	49	1248	2363	547	4158
UNION	12	12	0	230	96	0	235	194	429
VENANGO	19	3	411	412	328	7091	9017	5672	21780
WARREN	7	7	206	157	0	2452	4296	0	6748
WASHINGTON	18	18	394	480	93	4285	9802	1022	15109
WAYNE	5	5	0	172	246	0	5137	5802	10939
WESTMORELAND	34	16	580	594	292	6367	14932	1750	23049
WYOMING	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
YORK	37	23	456	991	100	3006	21833	596	25435
OTHER	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
OUT OF STATE	15	15	389	772	704	3838	23896	14976	42710
TOTAL		963	30626	74237	49990	355140	1813132	861345	3029617

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