Voorhees to sponsor summer feeding program

(Voorhees College news release) – Voorhees College recently was approved to serve as an official sponsor of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). The institution will hold an informational session on Tuesday, May 15 at 6 p.m. in Massachusetts Hall for campus and community members to learn more about the program.

Additionally, Voorhees will hold two site supervisor trainings on Saturday May 19 and Saturday, May 26 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Massachusetts Hall Auditorium.

The USDA Summer SFSP, also known as the Summer Meals (Feeding) Program, provides kids and teens from youth up to age 18 who are from low-income areas, free meals when school is out. Voorhees will now serve as a sponsor for several community feeding sites this summer.

The full program will run for three weeks from June 11-June 29 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and again for four weeks July 2-July 31 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed in observance of Independence Day July 5 and 6. Meals are first come, first served between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.

SFSP director Menia Lee said Voorhees was approved by the State Department of Education to serve as a USDA sponsor and serve area feeding sites.

“This opportunity is exciting because while there are many feeding sites across the Bamberg and Barnwell areas, there are currently no sponsors within what are deemed the “strike force counties” across the Promise Zone,” Lee said. “We are pleased to serve the community in this very important capacity.”

The South Carolina Promise Zone consists of Allendale, Bamberg and Hampton counties and a significant part of Barnwell, Colleton and Jasper counties.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “The Promise Zone designation will catalyze an effort across the South Carolina Lowcountry to meet identified goals essential to increasing the quality of life and accelerating efforts to create comprehensive community revitalization in the region.”

​For more information, please contact Menia Lee, SFSP director, at 803-780-1239 or Carolyn Jenkins, director of Aladdin Foods, at (803) 780-1361.