Orange Cares Invests $357,000 For Children Lacking Food

Program aims to give kids enough to eat on the weekends, when they are away from school

Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus announces the Orange Cares initiative in Goshen on September 9, 2015. Yvonne Marcotte/Epoch Times

GOSHEN—Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus and Social Services Commissioner Darcie Miller announced on Sept. 9 a partnership with Food Bank of the Hudson Valley to assist children in Orange County who do not have enough to eat over a weekend when not in school.

This new initiative, Orange Cares, is a two-year program for 22 schools in the county. The county has invested $375,000 in Orange Cares to jump-start the program. About 10 percent, or 38,230 residents, of the county does not have enough food. Orange Cares intends to help children who struggle in school because they need a nutritious start to the week.

The intent of the backpack program is to provide a backpack full of food for kids to take home on weekends.

— Mark Quandt, executive director, Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York