According to John Barber, executive director of the Y, the summer meal program served 35,527 meals at 13 locations in the city of Jamestown as well as locations in Falconer, Frewsburg and Busti from July 1 to August 30. The program has served 33,166 people. on 16 sites in 2024.

YM is serving meals in fewer locations, but demand for meals has continued to grow since the program’s inception many years ago.

“We served at fewer sites because we coordinated with Jamestown Public Schools, which participated in the summer meal effort by offering three meal sites at summer learning locations than the Was served in 2023. This allowed these sites to be prepared on site. hot meals offered by the school’s excellent food service team. This JPS assistance with summer meal programming allowed the YMCA to pivot our meal service model to expand access to a relatively new non-congregate service model approved by the USDA and available at locations “ “designated rural areas,” allowing us to serve Grab N’ Go meals,” Barbier says. “Last year, we only had two locations approved for this meal service model. Seeing the success of these sites in 2023, we expanded this model to include all seven of our sites opening for 2024. Traditional summer dining service models required sponsors to serve meals only to children who came to a site and stayed to eat there. This year, we expanded a Grab N’ Go meal model, which allows families to collect meals for all children in their household. Each day, our open sites offered breakfast and lunch, which children or parents could collect on behalf of the children in their household.

Barber pointed to the change in how the YMCA serves meals as part of the program’s upward growth and changing demographics in its service area.

A child enjoys a meal at one of the Jamestown Area YMCA’s many summer food programs. The YMCA meal program served more than 35,527 meals this year at 16 locations, including rural expansion sites in Frewsburg, Falconer and Busti. Photos submitted

“This has led to a major change in both the number of children and the meals served at our open sites, where any child 18 and under can receive meals. This major change is demonstrated by looking at an example location like Lillian Dickson Park, which served an average of 20 children per day in 2023, but increased to an average of 54 children per day when switching to a Grab N meal model ‘Go for 2024. As this site can serve both breakfast and lunch, the number of meals served increased from 823 in 2023 to 4,958 meals in 2024.

Barber believes the common-sense approach taken by the YMCA, and making meals eligible for families, has led to a dramatic increase in the use of the YMCA’s summer meal program. Additionally, as the Jamestown Y leads the charge in restructuring summer meal programs, it has attracted national attention.

“We believe the dramatic change in the number of children and meals served is a direct result of a common-sense approach to making meals accessible to families. This change in meal service model is currently limited to rural communities only, but under USDA designations, our entire region is considered “rural.” The Jamestown YMCA was one of a handful of pilot sites across the state in 2023, and this year our meal programs caught the attention of a national hunger advocacy organization called No Kid Hungry,” he declared. “The Jamestown YMCA’s expansion of non-congregate meals into rural communities will be featured by the national childhood hunger advocacy organization, No Kid Hungry. A No Kid Hungry film crew came to film the YMCA meal programs in action and interview affected staff and families. No Kid Hungry will use the video and photographic footage to propel its national advocacy efforts by widely sharing the impact of the Jamestown YMCA in our community.

The mission of the Y food program is to end childhood hunger. Meals include grains, fruits and vegetables and appropriate portions to encourage healthy eating. Through the YMCA, children are provided with safe eating spaces and taught how to eat nutritionally.

Additionally, Barber said, “A member of our summer meals team has been invited to present this impact directly at the No Kid Hungry: Summer Nutrition Summit, which will be held in Dallas this December. »

Food insecurity is a national health problem. Additionally, Chautauqua County has a higher than average rate of food hunger compared to national and New York State rates.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the Summer Nutrition Program for Children (SUN) has been expanded. Families now have more ways to provide their children with the nutrition they need in the summer when school meals are not available. USDA SUN programs offer convenient and flexible options.

A 2022-2023 USDA report revealed the following statistics related to food insecurity.

-Nearly 30 million children participate in USDA school breakfast and lunch programs during an average school day.

– 44.2 million people lived in households that struggled to get enough food to feed everyone in 2022, up from 33.8 million people the previous year.

-Families included more than 13 million children experiencing food insecurity, an increase of nearly 45% from 2021.

-In its report, the USDA found that nearly 7 million households faced such hardship that they sometimes had to skip meals because there wasn’t enough food to go around. Almost all households reported not being able to afford balanced meals. In 381,000 households with children, they also felt hungry – by skipping meals or going all day without eating. The USDA noted that this could have significant health consequences, particularly for children.

According to stacker.com, Chautauqua County has above average food insecurity numbers compared to New York State averages.

Chautauqua County Food Insecurity

– Insecurity rate: 12.4%

– Precarious population: 15,850 people

– Cost per meal: $3.70

– Annual food budget deficit: $10,361,000

Food Insecurity in New York State

– Insecurity rate: 11.4%

– Precarious population: 2,265,160 people

– Cost per meal: $3.78

– Annual food budget deficit: $1,514,465,000

For more information, visit thejamestownymca.org or email ceojamestownymce.org