Summer Food Program Fills Needy Stomachs BALTIMORE, MD (wypr) - Jeffrey Post is standing inside a 12-thousand square-foot refrigerated warehouse on South Monroe Street. It's icy cold in here about 38 degrees. Post is the vice-president of Martin's Caterers. He's watching about 80 teenagers dressed in winter coats and heavy sweatshirts put together breakfast kits that will be shipped to roughly 400 feeding sites in Baltimore.

"Right now we're doing 24,000 of these. Our lunch today is 27,000."
That's right. Today alone, 24-thousand boxed breakfasts and 27-thousand boxed lunches will be prepared by these students. It's all part of this year's summer food service program targeting low-income neighborhoods. Roxanne Bagby is Baltimore's program manager. She says any child under the age of 18 is eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch over the summer. It's as simple as showing up at a participating recreation center or church.

"This is an extension of the free and reduced meals program for the schools during the school year. So there is an eligibility. But Baltimore, by virtue of the fact that the city has greater than 50 percent free and reduced meals rate during the school year, all sites in Baltimore city are eligible."

Baltimore city has offered free summer lunches for about 40 years. Free breakfasts were added more recently.

The 360-million-dollar national program is paid for by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Martin's Caterers is the city contractor. It pays students from the local youth employment program $7.25 an hour to prepare the meals. One of them is 19-year-old Ciara Parker.

"My job is putting sandwiches on a belt and actually package the sandwich in plastic. And then from there, we go to an assembly line, pack'em in lunchboxes so we can serve em to where-ever they go out to.

Parker says she usually saves the money she earns for the school year.

"Right now, I attend Baltimore City Community College. So I put it towards my books or help out at home my grandmother, my mom."

Post says Parker is one of his best workers. And he says he's noticed a change in the kids coming to work here over the past few years. But he's not sure if it's because of the recession.

"It's been a lot easier. And the people are just seem like they want to work. And we've had some, not issues, but we've had some problem years. When you hire so many people, you're always going to have a few that you're going to have some issues with. But last year was probably the best crew I ever had."

Work is the last thing on the minds of these kids at John Eager Howard Recreation Center near Druid Hill Park. About a dozen kids between five and 13 years old are tearing up the gym, chasing after a basketball. They're some of the kids attending summer camp. Carolyn Newton is the center director. She says 25 kids are signed up for camp but they sometimes get up to 40 kids showing up for the free lunch.

"Because a lot of kids' parents are unemployed or on low income and sometimes when they do get the food stamps, they don't last as long. So a kid is looking for a meal."

One of the camp attendees is 11-year-old Zhanae Bailey-El. She says her favorite foods are the turkey sandwich and celery sticks with ranch dressing.

"Like everybody says, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and if you don't have it you can't, like, get your energy started. And I think lunch is important too because it's just another meal to have and just to burn off calories and be ready for your day."

The summer food service program runs until August 21st.

I'm Sarah Richards, reporting in Baltimore, for 88-1 WYPR.

© Copyright 2013, wypr