Free lunches for school-age children return to Allentown and Quakertown this week as St. Luke’s University Health Network launches the eighth year of its Summer Meals Program, beginning Thursday in Allentown.
The program aims to fill the nutrition gap that opens when school cafeterias close for the summer. St. Luke’s Community Health Department created the initiative after the network’s Community Health Needs Assessment found that more than half of students in the Allentown and Quakertown Community school districts qualify for free and reduced-price meals during the academic year.
The need extends beyond the two districts. Nearly one in five Pennsylvania children experienced food insecurity in 2023, according to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study…