With an estimated one in four children facing hunger this summer, local nonprofit Project Making Kids Count is partnering with Alta Behavioral Healthcare to provide groceries to local families for 12 weeks throughout the summer.

The goal of Project Making Kids Count’s Summer Food Assistance Program is to help local families battling hunger by providing distributions every 2 weeks of fresh food, frozen foods, meal kits and pantry items. This year, Project Making Kids Count has chosen to partner with Alta to provide meals to 20 families the organization works with. Thanks to the generous support of volunteers from Farmers National Bank, donations from Schwebels and countless members of the community, sponsorships from Simon Roofing and a partnership with Rulli Brothers, Project Making Kids Count is able to bring this program to life.

Every two weeks the families receive fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, frozen foods, staple pantry items and the ingredients to make two meals together as a family.

“There is something special about having that time to cook together and eat together as a family. So we like to include two complete meals along with the recipes in each distribution,” Colleen Gamble of Project Making Kids Count.

The food bags are assembled at Project Making Kids Count’s warehouse space and then delivered to Alta, who then distributes the food to families.

“Families have cried with us, sharing that they may not have been able to provide enough food for their family that month without the help of this program. And we are incredibly grateful for everything Project Making Kids Count does for us and our families,” Meg Harris, LPC, Community Support and Trauma Supervisor at Alta Behavioral Healthcare said.

Helping children, healing familes.