BELLOWS FALLS — Meeting Waters YMCA's regional day camps offer activities aimed at helping kids learn, grow, and thrive. This summer, those camps are adding free, nutritious lunches to the menu.
The offering is thanks to a Summer Food Program partnership with the Springfield Family Center.
Children from more than two dozen communities in the Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Springfield, and Fall Mountain regions attend the Y's day camps each summer, and are welcome to participate.
“We're grateful for the support of Springfield Family Center for helping us feed some of the more than 100 campers we serve each day throughout the summer,” Susan Fortier, the Y's program director and leader of its Y Day Camps, said in a program announcement.
Fortier added that each year, nearly half of the youth her program serves come from families with limited financial resources.
“This will be a great support for these and other parents. We also know that many parents up and down the Valley are having to choose between an enriching summer camp experience and a free meal. Now, they don't have to give up one for the other,” she said.
In addition to serving as the community food shelf, the Springfield Family Center (www.springfieldfamilycenter.com) provides a free community meal six days a week, and offers other programs dedicated to helping those in need become economically self-sufficient and socially interdependent.