Spotlight on Summer Meals Madness: East Hartford

"Hornet Pride" was on display as youths converged on East Hartford High School for #SummerMealsMadness.

Here in the home of the Connecticut Huskies, the sound of bouncing basketballs and squeaking sneakers can be heard any time of year, as kids of all ages dream of leading UConn’s men’s and women’s teams to another successful season. So the sight of kids congregating around backboards last week at East Hartford High School wasn’t so out of the ordinary.

Hoops and nutritious food were both on the menu.

But school’s been out for weeks now. What were 132 boys and girls doing back at the home of “Hornet Pride" on a summer afternoon?

With the support of Fox 61, iHeart Media and Stop & Shop, Foodshare’s #SummerMealsMadness program is spreading the word about the federally funded Summer Food Service Program with basketball-themed events and free meals for kids at sites across the Greater Hartford area.

Last week, it was East Hartford High’s turn to host to #SummerMealsMadness, and EHHS served free meals to children 18 and younger during lunchtime, in addition to hosting basketball skills contests and offering giveaways from area radio station KISS 95.7.

Shooting contests were part of the fun at Summer Meals Madness.

In East Hartford, roughly 64% of children qualify for free or reduced-cost school meals. There’s a need here, and the 160 members of the East Hartford Hunger Action Team (HAT) are working with Foodshare to fight hunger and food insecurity through community events such as this one.

Last year, the USDA-funded summer meals program served 60,287 meals in East Hartford, and Foodshare's East Hartford HAT, is working to improve on that performance.

In 2015, 27% of eligible Connecticut kids accessed summer meals benefits, according to the most recent figures. Compared to the national average of 15.8 percent, Connecticut is among states leading the way in connecting kids to summer meals.But that’s still three out of four eligible children potentially going hungry on any given summer day in our state.

Learn more about summer meals on our website, or to find a summer meals site near you call 2-1-1, text CTmeals to 877877, or visit http://www.CTSummerMeals.org.