To the Editor:
Thank you so very much to the people of Hull for the donations to the Stretch Your Food Budget (SYFB) program. Their involvement allowed us to raise more than $13,000, which will keep the SYFB program viable through 2023.
With the continued challenge of COVID-19 and the ending of the Federal Child Tax Credit payments to families, we expect the reality of food insecurity to continue. To help define the challenges facing families in Hull, here are some basic data:
- Of the 810 students in the Hull Public Schools as of the 2021-2022 school year, approximately 34 percent are eligible for free and reduced breakfast and lunch, representing 275 students.
- If we imagine each family has two students, that translates to 137 families; three students translate to 92 families; and four students translate to 69 families.
- This presents a significant opportunity for SYFB to impact potential food challenges with these families.
- Presently we are serving 11 families with weekly deliveries of food kits. Kits are also available at the schools for children to take home as well as at the Hull Senior Center, Wellspring, and The Anchor of Hull.
In the two months since the Nantasket Hull Rotary Club assumed the responsibility for delivering SYFB meal kits, we have delivered close to 300 meal kits in collaboration and with the support of the Hull Public Schools. This represents at least 1,200 meals provided to these school families. This doesn’t include the kits that have been picked up at Wellspring, the Hull Senior Center, and The Anchor.
Additionally, SYFB established a Snacks for Schoolkids program at the request of the Hull educational professionals who have been buying snacks for the students out of their own pocket. We supply each guidance counselor, nurse, and principal with a pack of snacks, including breakfast bars, fruit, cereal, crackers, and juice. As these are depleted, the Nantasket Hull Rotary volunteers will resupply the packs.
The Rotary Club has built tracking and inventory systems as well as operational protocols, which allow us to maintain the confidentiality of the families as we prepare to share our experiences and systems with other Rotary Clubs.
On behalf of the families we are helping and for all the individuals we will help in the coming months, the members of the Nantasket Hull Rotary Club – and especially I – thank you for ensuring this program will continue to help those who will benefit from SYFB in the future.
Dennis Zaia
