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More Sites Added To Summer Food Program

Jenna Dooley
/
WNIJ

The Illinois State Board of Education says children and teens will be able to get free meals at more locations this summer. An extra 200 sites have been added to the list of places where children can get free mealsduring the hottest months of the year. There are now more than 2,000 locations in Illinois.

Summer Meals Illinois: FIND A SITE

or

Text "FOODIL" to 877877 for sites near you.

At more than half of those, recipients will not have to show proof of family income in order to receive a meal.The U.S. Ag Departmentfunds the Summer Meals program. Summer feeding sites include schools, places of worship and parks. Last year saw a slight increase in the number of low-income children eating summer meals in Illinois. According to a release from the Illinois State Board of Education, an estimated 63,000 children in the state were served meals during each of the past two summers.

 

Jenna Dooley has spent her professional career in public radio. She is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois - Springfield. She returned to Northern Public Radio in DeKalb after several years hosting Morning Edition at WUIS-FM in Springfield. She is a former "Newsfinder of the Year" from the Illinois Associated Press and recipient of NIU's Donald R. Grubb Journalism Alumni Award. She is an active member of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association and an adjunct instructor at NIU.
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