For years, public schools have been a safe haven for hungry children.

Low- or no-cost breakfast and lunches are available for children from families that meet low-income standards. The districts work to keep costs low while providing nutritious meals for schoolchildren.In the Pleasant Valley School District, Kinsley’s ShopRite holds one or two food drives yearly to help supplement this effort by selling “Healthy Happy Meals.”“We choose September because it is National Hunger Action month,” said Rhianna Cenci, a registered dietitian from Kinsley’s.The meals, which sold for $3 last year, includeenough food for two breakfasts and two lunches to help feed children on weekends and snow days.But what happens when school is out for the summer?According to Feeding America.Org, one in seven families in America struggle with hunger. And while the statistics are reported along different lines, such as Latino, inner city andin the farm belt, the two groups that struggle the most in America are children and senior citizens.Feeding America studies show that within its overall network they are serving 7 million seniors and 12 million children in America.According to Karena Thek, director of theWest End Food Pantry, many of the families who come to the pantry report multiple incomes, but still fall below the poverty level.“Many of our clients are working hard to take care of their families,” Thek said. “But many times they have to choose between putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads.“And this is why summer is a particularly difficult time for these families. Many have to arrange day care for their children that would normally be in school. Summer break makes the struggle even greater.”Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network Food Pantry and the Salvation Army teamed up this summer to provide no-cost meals to children 18 and younger in the West End of Monroe County.The West End Food Pantry, which opened last November, has seen a steady increase in the number of people served monthly. The pantry is located in the old Eldred Elementary Schooland is open on the first and third Saturday of the month.On opening day in November, the pantry served 37 families, consisting of 55 adults, 25 children and 18 senior citizens. On July 16, the pantry served 192 families — 315 were adults, 200 were children and 99 senior citizens. In its first nine months the pantry has served 6,706 people.West End Food Pantry and Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network and other food pantriesaround the area all rely heavily on Second Harvest, the food bank that serves the area. Unfortunately, this time of year the shelves are pretty bare at the food bank.“Most people don’t think to donate to food banks during the summer months,” said David Cool, agency relations coordinator for Second Harvest.“Our shelves are full during November and December and even around Easter. Those are the times when people are thinking about hunger and they are very generous. The rest of the year, we scrape to get by and summer is the worst.”The food bank receives 65 percent of its food donations and 85 percent of its monetary donations in November and December.Second Harvest serves a total of 200 agencies, which include food pantries like Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network and West End Food Pantry as well as soup kitchens, community food programs and summer camps.The West End Food Pantry does not rely on state funding and is not eligible for the state fund purchased food from Second Harvest. West End Food Pantry clients self-report their income. Once approved, families shop the shelves of the pantry using traditional shopping carts. The only limitations are based on the number of family members.An example would be a family of two may take one jar of peanut butter, but a family of six might be permitted to take two jars.Thek and her volunteers have tried monthly to do something special for those who frequent the pantry. At Easter time, volunteer Donna Deihl decided that every family should have a dozen eggs to color for the holiday it they wanted, so Deihl took to Facebook and township meetings and spread the word that she needed 200 dozens of eggs.Deihl was so successful with her Easter eggs that she set her sights on back to school.For the second distribution date on Saturday, the pantry is planning on distributing school supplies and brand-new backpacks to school-aged children. The pantry will also have a table set up with a school uniform exchange for Pleasant Valley School District students and there will be a handful of hair dressers on hand for back to school haircuts as well.The pantry is still looking for donations of backpacks, school supplies and could use another hairdresser or barber to help out with its plans this weekend.If you are interested in helping, call the Eldred Community Center at

610-895-4444 and leave a message or contact Thek at

Karenathek@mac.com.