Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/10296
8B – Daily News – Monday, May 10, 2010 For more children, dinner is coming from Uncle Sam BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) — While the other preschoolers were warm- ing up to the vegetable pesto lasagna, 3-year-old Avery Bennett dove in with no hesitation. ‘‘Can I have some more lasagna?’’ Bennett said from her booster seat. ‘‘I love it.’’ She moved on to her seconds, and the other kids at the evening care program in Brattleboro were also chomping down the dish made of spinach, peppers, carrots, tomato, fresh basil and cheese. More low-income school kids could soon have access to free nutri- tious dinners like the lasagna that Avery loved. A U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture pro- gram in Vermont, 12 other states and the Dis- trict of Columbia pro- vides reimbursements for the suppers, served at after-school programs for at-risk kids in com- munities where at least 50 percent of households fall below the poverty level. ‘‘What it allows us to do is provide those kids with an extra nutritious meal before they go home because some kids go home to nothing,’’ said Susan Eckes, direc- tor of child nutrition pro- grams for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada in cans who live in food- insecure households — which at times don’t have enough nutritious food — rose from 36 million people in 2007 to 49 million in 2008, according to the most recent report from USDA’s Economic Research Service. Among those, 16.7 million were children, up from 12.4 million in 2007. McCarran, Nev. Around the country, about 49,000 children benefit from the after- school meals each day. The program is expected to cost a total of $8 mil- lion from 2009 to 2013, the USDA said. With more families losing jobs and homes, the need is growing, offi- cials said. The number of Ameri- Nearly one in four children in the U.S. are food insecure and about one in five live in pover- ty, according to a report from Feeding America, a network of 200 food banks around the coun- try. ‘‘As the economy gets worse, we’re seeing more and more kids,’’ said Beth Baldwin-Page, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro. – Thank You – thanks to the generosity of these local businesses & individuals. • M & M RANCH HOUSE • ROSE HABLITZEL, ENROLLED AGENT • RED BLUFF INTERIORS • MOTHER LODE HOLDING CO. • LP BUILDING PRODUCTS • LOUISIANA PACIFIC • STATE FARM INS. KEITH THOMAS • TEHAMA ESTATES • CALIFORNIA WALNUT CO., INC. • MR. PICKLE’S SANDWICH SHOP • AIRPORT AUTO REPAIR • JOHN WHEELER LOGGING D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 • KAY STEPHENS, MD • QRC • GREENWASTE OF TEHAMA • TRI COUNTIES BANK • MOSS LUMBER & HARDWARE • BRETNEY SUTTERFIELD • HOYT-COLE CHAPEL OF THE FLOWERS • TEHAMA COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS • FIDELITY NATIONAL TITLE CO. • SUSANNE WHALEN, DMD INC • PLACER TITLE CO. NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION Please help sponsor a classroom subscription Call Kathy at (530) 527-2151 to find out how. Through the Newspapers in Education program, area classrooms receive the Red Bluff Daily News every day D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY THE V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5