Food Podcast: With school out, Trinity's summer youth café addresses food insecurity

Even though school might be out for summer, the issue of living with food insecurity doesn’t go away for many children.

That worry remains high as more families endure financial struggles from the covid-19 pandemic, causing the food security rate in Southwestern Pennsylvania to hit 21%. That’s a 41% increase compared to 2019. Last year, the number of summer meals distributed more than tripled than the previous year.

The need makes the push for summer youth café sites so critical. This is where any person age 18 and under can get free meals. Families can find a summer youth café near them by calling 2-1-1 or texting ‘FOOD’ to 877-877. While each café is different, many cafés offer grab-and-go meals where families can bundle a few days’ worth of meals for their kids.

In Washington County, the Trinity School District is solely providing grab-and-go meals, adding little trinkets in each bag like a cracker jack box. Nicolle Pleil runs the site and says she sees more families taking advantage of the grab-and-go option.

“There were always kids we worried about, and this program takes that away,” Pleil said. “It lets us know that if someone is looking for food and they have children 18 or younger, they can absolutely come to us.”

Summer youth cafés are strategically placed to give families the most access. At Trinity, the summer youth café location was set based off its proximity to public transportation.

Pleil said the government-funded food program is good for the kids and the community.

“A lot of what we purchase comes from local farms. So our buying power truly is helping our local farmers in Southwestern Pa. We’re able to keep people gainfully employed in the summer months. We’re helping save people money, providing healthy meals, providing other services. This program is one of the best things going,” Pleil said.

Pleil said Trinity’s summer youth café offers great services for kids, too. The café partners with Cornerstone Care to give free dental exams and a program to give free vision care to kids.

She added that while last year was the busiest summer youth café ever, the need is still there.

“We’ve been hoping that we’re not needed the way we were last year for the wellness of the community,” she said, “but we’re willing to do it again.”

Listen: Trinity’s summer youth café