BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Brittni Stallings has three boys.

"I have an 8-year-old, a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old, and you would think they were already teenagers," Stallings said.

What You Need To Know

  • Burke County Public Schools is offering meals to anyone 5 to 8 over the summer

  • The summer is a time that many don't know where their next meal is coming from

  • The district says this is a way for them to know the kids are getting fed over the summer

Two of them go to Valdese Elementary School, and they like the food at school. During the school year, they get two meals a day inside the cafeteria, which Stallings says is very helpful. When summer hits, that all changes.

"Burke County offers a free breakfast and free lunch to all students in Burke County. They grow accustomed to that. That's nine months out of the year that they don't have to worry about that or budget for that. When summer hits, you have almost three months to have to find the funds to be able to do something like that," Stallings said.

Her family is one of many that will be going to Valdese Elementary or Mountain View Elementary School to pick up meals four days a week.

"You don't know, you don't see them every day. They are not in class. They are not with a teacher, and so this is our chance to check in on our needy students," Burke County Public Schools Director of Child Nutrition Daniel Wall said.

Wall says there is a lot of food insecurity in the county, and he doesn't want students to worry. It's a problem for students not only in that area, but in the entire state.

According to Early Child NC, nearly half of North Carolina students are considered economically disadvantaged, meaning family income is less than 185% of the federal poverty line.

They have found that 1 in 5 school-aged children live in households below the poverty line.

It's something Resident District Manager for Chartwells Schools Cheyenne Cornelius agrees with. She says they want students to feel full and have meals they enjoy.

"Coming from a low-income family, those were the memories I have in my younger years in elementary and high school is the lunch lady and hot meals and what was for the lunch and knowing that was something I could access," Cornelius said.

She says they understand transportation to those schools may be difficult as well, so starting in July they will be bringing their food truck to the Morganton area to help feed families.