Organization opens to-go meal sites for DeKalb, Clayton families

Families in DeKalb and Clayton counties can now pick up breakfast and lunch at seven new distribution sites organized by a local child care advocacy organization.

Quality Care for Children, which offers child care resources to parents and providers, is expanding its meals program providing to-go meals now through June 26, the agency said in a statement.

Five of the sites are in DeKalb and two are in Clayton. Families can pick up sack breakfasts and lunches every Monday through Friday. Children do not have to be present to receive meals; the program is open to the greater public. The locations in DeKalb are:

• Arms Wide Open/Calvary Grove Baptist Church, 3167 Zion St., Scottdale, GA 30097
• Kiddie Kingdom Early Learning Academy, 2964 South Rainbow Dr., Suite 315, Decatur, GA 30034
• Olio Nature Play, 1863 Brannen Road, Atlanta, GA 30316
• Results Kids Club, 2532 S. Hairston Road, Suite H, Decatur, GA 30035
• Youth VIBE, 1827 Columbia Dr., Decatur, GA 30032

The locations in Clayton are:

• BKidz Summer Arts Camp, 1256 Hwy. 138, Riverdale, GA 30296
• Excel Prep' Academy, 5880 Old Dixie Hwy., Forest Park, GA 30297 (does not provide meals on Fridays)

Quality Care for Children advised families to check with each site to get the specific distribution times.

“We hope that making food more accessible to families who need it during this time will alleviate some of the stress they are experiencing,” Pam Tatum, the president and CEO of QCC, said in a statement.

The DeKalb County School District and other public school systems in metro Atlanta operate their own summer food programs.

Between Clayton and DeKalb, an estimated 190,000 people were food insecure in 2017, according to Feeding America, a national nonprofit with a network of more than 200 food banks. About 53,000 of those were children.

Food insecurity is a technical term used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that means a family does not always have access to nutritious food.

The number of people struggling to find and afford food is believed to be growing during the coronavirus pandemic as unemployment spikes.