MARIETTA, Ga. — For the past 27 years, MUST Ministries’ Summer Lunch Program has provided Georgia children with nutritious meals throughout the summer.
Nearly 375,000 children in Georgia are considered food insecure, and for many of them, free and reduced meals from school are their main source of food throughout the day. This means that during the summer there is a need that does not get met.
Last year, MUST said they helped fill the hunger gap for more than 6,000 children in seven metro Atlanta counties by delivering 537,527 meals in just nine weeks.
This year, the non-profit is making it their goal again to feed 6,000 children in the metro Atlanta area and tackle food insecurity in any way they can.
However, with factors like COVID-19 and lack of supplies and donations, a strain has been put on their efforts and they are in desperate need of volunteers and food donations to reach that goal.
“The number of children we serve continues to grow each summer, particularly in our current environment of increasing need,” MUST Seasonal Programs Director Paula Rigsby said in a released statement. “These children can only be fed through an abundance of generous volunteers and donations. We are facing shortages of everything from juice boxes to people willing to help."
President and CEO of MUST Ministries Dr. Ike Reighard said since the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for programs like Summer Lunch has greatly increased, but working with agencies like the USDA has made it possible for them to meet that demand.
Unfortunately, as of now, he said the USDA has not announced if it would extend food supplies for the month of July this year, leaving a gap in supplies.
"At this point, only half of this summer is covered from the week that the kids get out of school through the end of June. If that happens, then we're going to have to come up with a plan to be able to feed those children," Reighard said.
In the past, MUST has greatly relied on the hearts of the community to be able to both make and deliver the summer lunches to children.
“The only thing that's exceeded the size of the need has been the size of generosity, as people have just opened up their hearts and opened up opportunities to give to us and to support us," Reighard said.
In the coming weeks, they are asking the community to keep the kindness coming so they can fully prepare to reach their goal.
"The weeks leading up to the launch of Summer Lunch are crucial in receiving donations, so that we are prepared to feed these children facing hunger," Rigsby said.
Organizers said they are in need of include plastic bags, microwavable pasta (ramen noodles, macaroni & cheese), plastic jars of peanut butter, juice boxes, Capri Suns, individual packages of chips, cookies, fruit cups, fruit snacks, crackers, cereal bars, grits packets, pre-packaged muffins and other donations.
In addition to food, the non-profit also has an initiative focusing on summer reading. Every other week, during their summer lunch drop-off, MUST will also deliver donated books to the community.
“We're looking to give away about 30,000 books across the summer months," Reighard said.
Summer Lunch meals will be distributed across six metro Atlanta counties — Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Cherokee, Douglas, Bartow and Pickens.
The program is set to start on June 1 and will continue until July 27. Distribution partners for the program have yet to be announced.
If you are looking to donate food or books to the Summer Lunch Program, you can find a full list of donation items here.
Drop your items off at the MUST Donation Center at 1280 Field Parkway N in Marietta. They will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
They are also accepting financial donations that can be made here.
For more information on the Summer Lunch program and volunteer opportunities, please visit mustministries.org/summer-lunch or email summerlunch@mustministries.org.