Fresh, local produce is fueling a fun summer camp for children in need! Thanks to our farmers and members, we are donating $28,000 in fresh, local produce to YMCA’s Camp High Hopes. Camp High Hopes is a subsidized day camp for children in Downtown and Southeast Raleigh. Over 450 children participate in the weekly camps offered for seven weeks in June and July every summer.
More than 30 million children in low-income communities receive free or reduced-cost meals during the school year, but what about summertime? Only 2.3 million continue to have access to free meals during the summer. Parts of downtown and southeast Raleigh are food deserts, where this is not ready access to fresh, healthy and affordable food.
For four weeks, The Produce Box has been doing a weekly drop-off of healthy fruits and veggies for the children and families at Camp High Hopes. Nothing beats the big smiles on the campers’ faces when we come to the camp with berries in hand! And they are so proud to take the food home to their families.
Part of our mission is to “do good” and give back to our communities. Getting healthy fruits and vegetables into the hands of children and families who need it most is very important to us. Thanks for being a part of it!
Click hereto learn more about YMCA Camp High Hopes.