Hundreds of fewer schoolkids will take home free weekend meals as a local nonprofit faces revenue shortfalls

This coming school year, around 300 fewer kids will get meals to take home over the weekend following a revenue shortfall in Second Harvest’s Bite2Go program stationed at dozens of schools around the county.

Through the program, operated in part by nonprofit Second Harvest, students are able to take home kits full of food to last them through the weekend every week during the school year. Across 14 counties in the Inland Northwest, Bite2Go supplies 12,500 kids with weekend meals, racking up 383,400 total meals served last year.

With the organization this year receiving around $80,000 less in donations than last year, that accounts to around 300 fewer students taking home food, estimates Eric Williams, community partnerships director at Second Harvest.

Williams said many kids come to rely on the free breakfasts and lunches served at school. When Friday rolls around, the program ensures those students get adequate nutrition outside of school.

“Kids who come to school having food to eat versus those who don’t; they can learn a lot better,” Williams said. “It’s not just getting them through the weekend, it’s helping them learn to launch them into life.”

Second Harvest spends around $2.2 million for food for the program that they store in their warehouses. Volunteers pack and distribute the food to schools that discreetly give it to kids identified by teachers and staff.

In Spokane Public Schools, over 5,000 kids get weekend meal kits.

Over a year ago, Giving Back Spokane sponsored a summer Bite2Go pilot program that didn’t last beyond that summer. The funding shortfall is unrelated to recent allegations of embezzlement against Giving Back Spokane founder Rick Clark, Williams said.

Bite2Go is entirely funded by private donors, Williams said, and is unaffected by any changes in federal funding mechanisms that have afflicted other organizations that collect federal grants.

Williams said those interested in donating could do so at Bite2Go.org, where they can sponsor a school, feed a number of students or donate a specific amount.