Action Ministries, Inc. wrapped up their seventh year of Smart Lunch, Smart Kid, the organization’s nutrition and educational enrichment program for Georgia’s kids, on July 31.

Each weekday from June 1 to July 31, Smart Lunch, Smart Kid volunteers prepared and distributed healthy lunches, books and summer skill building activities to children who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches during the regular school year but do not have sufficient access to meals during the summer months. Since 2012, Smart Lunch, Smart Kid has served more than 1 million healthy lunches to Georgia’s children.

Why Smart Lunch?

1.2 million students qualify for free or reduced price meals during the school year. What happens when school is not in session? 85% of these kids do not have access to much food.  Too many of our kids will continue to feel the negative effects hunger has on their bodies and minds: Poor academic performance, inability to concentrate, stomach pains and headaches. No child should experience this. Action Ministries works to change this.

Success!

In partnership with volunteers and sponsors from local corporate, civic, educational, and religious organizations, Action Ministries delivered 235,827 healthy sack lunches to 7,370 children in areas not serviced by other programs. Meals reached children in 14 Georgia counties comprising of Butts, Carroll, Clarke, Cobb, DeKalb, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, McDuffie, Newnan, Newton, and Richmond counties.

Statewide sponsors include 11Alive, Amerigroup, Chick-fil-A Foundation, Enterprise Holdings, Gas South, Georgia’s Own Credit Union, Publix Super Markets, the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church, and United Way of Greater Atlanta.

Why Smart Kid?

Children who can’t read proficiently by the end of third grade are more likely to experience poor health, have discipline problems, perform poorly in math, become teen parents, and drop out of school. As adults, they’re more likely to spend time in prison, struggle with unemployment, and face shorter life expectancies. Four of five high school dropouts were not reading proficiently by the end of the third grade. Right now, 64% of Georgia’s fourth graders are not reading proficiently. More than 70% of non-proficient students share one thing in common. Poverty.

Success!

This summer, Action Ministries’ Smart Lunch, Smart Kid volunteers stepped up to “get Georgia reading.” Thousands of children who are growing up in poverty, across 14 Georgia counties, are now more prepared to succeed in school as they return to the classroom this fall.  Smart Lunch, Smart Kid volunteers delivered over 1,109 hours of onsite reading & summer enrichment, to 7,370 children, during summer lunch programming in their neighborhoods. These “Smart Kids” also received free books to read at home (courtesy of the Office of Superintendent Richard Woods and the Georgia Department of Education), totaling more than 26,000 books handed out at Smart Lunch, Smart Kid sites from June 1-July 31, 2018.

A selection of children, slightly more than 400, also received a new program teaching financial literacy. Through sponsorship from the SunTrust Foundation, Action Ministries was able to create and distribute a storybook on the 3^rd grade reading level which teaches the importance of saving money. Children were led in a 5-day activity series featuring the main character, Zelena. Zelena and the children made savings jars, brainstormed money making ideas, and practiced making budgets together with volunteers. Thanks to a successful summer launch, Zelena will continue to visit classrooms around North Georgia during the school year!