No Hungry Holidays program brings the gift of food to children

Posted

Local all-volunteer nonprofit Hugs Across the County is kicking off its fifth annual No Hungry Holidays program. The community effort provides much-needed breakfasts and lunches over the long winter break to 1,200 students referred by their school counselors.

In St. Johns County thousands of local children depend on free school-based meal programs every day, which means over long holiday breaks they may go hungry. The No Hungry Holidays program provides a bag filled with child-friendly, non-perishable breakfast and lunch items to cover the days students are not in school. In the Ponte Vedra Beach area alone, school counselors have referred about 85 kindergarten through 12th grade children to the program.

The initiative is seeking $20 donations, an amount which provides a bag of approximately 10 days of breakfast, lunch and snack items for one child. Residents can also drop off food items at Ponte Vedra High School or Valley Ridge Academy. The program’s wish-list items include Chef Boyardee tab-top pasta meals, hearty soups, easy mac tubs, granola bars, family size Cheerios/Honey Nut Cheerios, boxed Saltine-style crackers, fruit cups and creamy peanut butter.

Brette Reiman, the organization’s founder, said Hugs Across the County needs more donations to keep up with increasing demand.

“With the growth of our No Hungry Holidays program from 300 students in 2014 to 1,200 students this year, we simply cannot do what we do without the incredible support we receive from our community to help ensure that the holidays do not mean hunger for St. Johns County kids,” she said.

To learn more about Hugs Across the County, visit www.stjohnshugs.org. Donations can be mailed to: Hugs Across the County, 101 Marketside Ave, #404-254, Ponte Vedra, FL 32081.