CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — The stuffing of food boxes could be heard alongside the sounds of children playing at the Boys and Girls Club of Cabarrus County on Tuesday.
Food Lion Feeds, the grocer’s hunger relief program, along with some of their vendor partners, were prepping boxes to go with families on the weekends, filling another gap in what’s already a hard season for hunger.
“Monday through Friday, the kids at the club are here with us, and that they’re being fed well,” said Jonathan Helms with the Boys and Girls Cub. “But on Friday evening, what’s going to happen until Monday?”
Helms says they serve about 900 kids over the summer, and they typically feed between 130 and 150 families each summer weekend because of this program.
“Some of our participant base here, a lot of them are from single family homes, they’re already on free and reduced lunch,” said Helms.
Summer is always a challenging time for families. Kids don’t have access to food they normally would get at school, and right now, the need is rising.
“We are hearing from a lot of our food feeding partners that the need is growing,” said Kevin Durkee with Food Lion Feeds. “With inflation rising, different cuts that have happened recently. The need continues to rise, and food banks are seeing more and more people come looking for help and aid.”
These programs, partnerships and donations are a lifeline.
“It’s a basic need, and when those basic needs aren’t met, everything else kind of goes to the side, right? So, we’re here to help with that,” said Durkee.
The Boys and Girls Club of Cabarrus County and Food Lion Feeds both partner with Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, and so does Channel 9 for our annual 9 Food Drive. Collection day is on Wednesday.
Channel 9 will be outside the Walmart at the Arboretum Shopping Center from noon until 6 p.m.
The first 50 people to donate will receive four free tickets to Monster Jam.
Stop by and bring non-perishable food for people or pets.