Federal Officials Tour Summer Meals Program In North Philadelphia
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Representatives from the White House and the U.S.D.A. were in North Philadelphia on Tuesday visiting one of more than 450 Archdiocesan summer meals sites for kids. The visit included meetings where input on the federally funded program was heard.
The Nutritional Development Services (NDS) of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia served 873,000 meals last year to kids 18 and under free of charge at their summer meals programs. They are held at various locations throughout the Philadelphia five county region.
11-year-old Kevin Young has been going to the program at 13th and Brown Streets in North Philadelphia for three summers now.
"Some people may not have enough money or things to buy food like this," Young said. "So we are just thankful that we have the food and we eat as much as we can so we have enough energy for when we do different activities."
110 kids eat and participate in activities there daily.
"This is our first visit," said Melissa Rogers, the Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, "and it's an important one to launch our efforts.
Input was given by those involved in the program. Ideas on how it can be improved were among the discussions.
