Foodbank of Santa Barbara County expands Picnic in the Park to several new sites

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is about to launch its Picnic in the Park program.

The organization has prepared more meals than usual.

The program which kicks off on Monday provides free, healthy lunches for kids 18 and under at 12 locations countywide.

"We think about how to best service our community families and children … we’ve all be through a lot the last few years and it’s a wonderful way to be able to serve our community our neighbors and friends," said Alisse Harris of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.

Directors of the Foodbank said when school is out for the summer, many low income families won’t be able to receive the school lunches they need.

"A lot of our low income community members … families children … they can’t access food during summers because you know they’re not in school. And they rely on the free and reduced lunches," said Edward Colmenares of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. 

"We really want to make sure that families are able to be productive this summer, and we want to fill in the gaps in the community for families who are just trying to make ends meet," said grant and development specialist Hannah Webster of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.

This year the foodbank is expanding its picnic in the park program to several new sites.  

"We’ve increased the picnic in the park sites … we’ve implemented several new sites in mid county and north county," said Webster.

The foodbank is prepared to serve more than 25,000 healthy lunches to kids this summer in the community.

For a list of all the locations for picnic in the park log onto: https://foodbanksbc.org/.