ORLANDO, Fla. — For kids, summer days are filled with fun in the sun and no school days.
For parents, it means having to make up for the meals their children miss at school.
“They’re relying on food pantries to save money and make ends meet,” said Erica Spence of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida has seen an increase in searches for food assistance since school broke up for the summer.
Read: Local food bank gets new funding to expand operations
“Kids are home and growing, and they tend to grow faster during the summer, so they’re hungry all the time,” Islamic Social Services Director Diana Serrano said.
The food bank found that there were more than 19,000 searches of families seeking help through its Food Finder tool in June – a 95% increase on June last year.
There were over 16,000 searches in May, a 101% increase from last year.
“Families in Central Florida are facing all kinds of challenges,” Spence said, “including long-term economic issues like rising rent prices.”
Read: Elderly hunger affects hundreds of Central Florida residents
Serrano said after paying the rising costs, local families tell her it’s easiest to cut back on just a couple of trips to the grocery store over the summer.
“Our numbers are definitely growing every day,” Serrano said, “Right now we’re seeing about 130 families every day. It’s hard. With kids at home, it makes it a little harder to feed them.”
Muslim Social Services is one of Second Harvest’s 750 local feeding partners, which will remain open five days a week this summer and beyond to ease parents’ financial burden.
“What they’re really looking for are snacks,” Serrano said, “and we’re doing our best to provide as much as we can to make it easier for families through the summer.”
Read: Florida withdraws from program that feeds hungry children
No appointment is necessary to pick up food at Muslim Social Services, who say they just ask that you be an Orange County resident and won’t turn anyone away.
As a reminder, through the state’s Summer Breakspot program, anyone 18 and under can receive hot meals at participating local schools all summer long.
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