Over 16,000 Muskegon County children live at or near the poverty line.
“We’re currently serving about 1,900 meals a day in Muskegon.”
Bridget Clark Whitney is President and Founding CEO of Kid’s Food basket. A community-based food equity nonprofit. It provides Sack Suppers for food insecure children attending 60 schools in four counties.
Two-thirds of Muskegon County school children qualified for free or reduced-price lunches based on household income in the 2022-2023 school year.
“We right now have 11 schools that are still on our waiting list in Muskegon County and so there’s a real critical need to grow.”
Kids Food Basket first expanded into Muskegon County serving meals in 2012. For the past 11 years, KFB operated out of the church basement at Central United Methodist. It seeks a new, permanent location.
KFB is launching the Feeding Our Future: A Campaign for Muskegon Children. So far, it’s raised $1.7 million. The goal is $2.7 million. A portion will go toward the purchase of a former Muskegon County Health Department building centrally located at 97 East Apple Avenue.
“There’s also a one-acre garden plot. So, we could have our nutrition education and outdoor agricultural lessons happening right there onsite which is really important.”
Once the purchase closes renovations will begin after the first of the year.