Childhood Food Insecurity
in Duluth, MN
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However, with all of these different programs, there are still children at Myers-Wilkins that experience food insecurity. The Families in Transition coordinator, Stacey Achterhoff, knows much about the problems facing the students at Myers-Wilkins. She told us that even though they have these wonderful programs, “There are still some weeks where breakfast/lunch isn’t available. I’m not sure if our summer program keeps up with Friday Bags.” When asked the hypothetical question, if you had unlimited resources would there be a program you would implement? To this question our expert at Myer-Wilkins told us, “With enough money and adult volunteers, an in-school food shelf would help solve the Monday through Thursday evening issue.” After speaking with our source at Myers-Wilkins, even though these programs have helped many, there is still much to do.
Myers-Wilkins Community school collaborative utilizes solutions in the forms: free or reduced lunch, the BackPack Program, and the after school program offers a snack. About 85% of students at Myers-Wilkins qualify for free or reduced lunch, this is also a measure of poverty for many programs. The Second Harvest’s BackPack Program, provides 4 pounds of nonperishable foods for students in need each Friday; about 190 students participate in this program.
"With enough money and adult volunteers, an in-school food shelf would help solve the Monday through Thursday evening issue."
Each year Kids Cafe serves 400-500 individual children. It is a place where children in poverty can go to access quality and healthy food. Kids can also take home food to eat on the weekends.
Chum is Duluth’s primary safety-net organization for the homeless or those with very low incomes. Chum operates one of Duluth’s largest food shelf and provides an emergency shelter and supportive services for the homeless.
This is the largest on-site meal program in Northern Minnesota. This is a safe, warm place where people, children included, can go to get hot meals eight times a week, or breakfast on the weekdays.
Each month, Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank provides food to over 3,300 people. They are a food distributor of surplus food products. They store food and then distribute it to food programs, soup kitchens, food shelves, and shelters.
Our goal is to end childhood hunger in Duluth. These are options where families can go after school, on weekends, and in the summers for additional help.