The Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library is doing its part again this summer to combat food insecurity.
For the second year in a row, the library is partnering with the Greater Chicago Food Depository to provide free, nutritious lunches for children in Brookfield.
The library will offer the free meals from noon to 1 p.m. on weekdays, starting Monday, June 10 through Friday, Aug. 16. Lunch will not be served July 4 because the library will be closed for the holiday. The lunches will be available to anyone under 18, but, otherwise, there are no eligibility requirements.
According to a news release, the meals will typically each consist of a sandwich, fruit and milk. Children who participate in the program can eat their lunches inside a classroom in the library or out on the front plaza.
Throughout the program, the Greater Chicago Food Depository will deliver lunches to the library in the morning, where they’ll be refrigerated until the afternoon. The library first partnered with the depository last year, but library staff had hoped to start a similar program since before 2021, when they relocated to the library’s current location.
According to the organization, one in four children in Cook County are at risk of hunger. Students who receive free or reduced-cost meals at their schools may experience hunger over summer break, when school resources are not available.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository is a nonprofit that has been working since 1978 to end hunger in Chicago and Cook County.
