PARTNER WITH YOUR LOCAL FOOD CO-OP AND HOST A SUMMER FOOD DRIVE! Did You Know? Your investment in Perimeter Church’s ALL IN: Kingdom IMPACT initiative is helping fund some of the ministries you can also serve with this summer! In the last 12 months, Kingdom Investments has awarded grants to these ministry partners: • Atlanta Mission ($35,000) for the Choose Help Program, which provides overnight shelter, recovery programs, and vocational training for men. atlantamission.org • FCA Soccer ATL ($25,000) for expanding its Club Soccer program into Norcross, using soccer fcasoccer.org. See below for a video showing how this program equips kids to win in all of life: education, family life, faith, and purpose. • Fully Furnished Ministries ($15,089) to help renovate warehousing space to make the space more functional and appropriate for preparing/providing quality furnishings. fullyfurnishedministries.org • North Gwinnett Cooperative/Good Samaritan Health Center ($75,000) to work together to open a mini health clinic inside the North Gwinnett Co-op facilities. northgwinnettcoop.org and: goodsamgwinnett.org The Beautiful Game Gets More Beautiful Jorge Vallejo, FCA Soccer Director, was recently named Coach of the Year by the Coaches Leadership Network. Vallejo says through soccer, God gave him a vision of not just being a soccer coach, but a life coach to disadvantaged kids – especially boys. FCA partners with the PATH Project – another Kingdom Investments ministry partner and grant recipient – to bring kids closer to God and closer to high school graduation. You can see more of this amazing story at perimeter.org/kingdominvestments. End Child Hunger this Summer According to Feeding America, there are approximately 280,980 food insecure individuals in Forsyth, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties combined (Feeding America, 2018). Community Outreach has longstanding partnerships with several Title I schools within the 10 mile radius of Perimeter Church whose rate utilizing reduced lunch ranges from 87% to over 95% of the student population (varying by school). If these numbers are representative for where students receive two of their three meals a day, then we can conclude that these students and their families are left without in the eight weeks of summer break. All summer long, Community Outreach promotes serving opportunities through partnerships in our neighborhood to bring meals to families from extended stay hotels to low-income apartment complexes. Low food security and hunger can contribute to toxic stress – the strong, unrelieved activation of the body’s stress management system (APA, 2019). A study focusing on low-income children ages six to twelve categorized into “hungry,” “at-risk for hunger” or “not hungry” found that hungry children were significantly more likely to receive special education services, have repeated a grade in school, and to have received mental health counseling than at-risk-for-hunger or not-hungry children (APA, 2019. Also in this study, hungry children exhibited 7 to 12 times as many symptoms of conduct disorder (such as fighting, blaming others for problems, having trouble with a teacher, not listening to rules, stealing) than at- risk for hunger or not-hungry peers (APA, 2019). Among low-income children, those classified as “hungry” show increased anxious, irritable, aggressive and oppositional behavior in comparison to peers. Additionally, the multiple stressors associated with poverty result in significantly increased risk for developing psychiatric and functional problems (APA, 2019). As the end of the school year approaches, students across the country are anxiously anticipating the start of their summer vacation. Not everyone can afford to be excited about the end of the school year, however. Hunger doesn’t take a vacation. In fact, the need is greatest during the summer months. Low-income students are no longer receiving free or reduced-cost breakfast and lunch at school, and families need to look elsewhere to replace those meals. For many of our neighbors, putting food on the table remains a daily struggle. Our local co-ops, meanwhile, typically see a drop in donations this time of year. Now is the time to take action and fight hunger in your community by hosting a food drive. Hosting a Food Drive can be a fun way to meet new friends and reconnect with old ones! Consider hosting a food drive: • In your neighborhood • On your street • At your workplace • With your kids summer clubs or camps • Swim team clubs • At your child’s daycare or school • With your Connect Group or Journey Group Community Outreach has already created flyers and a how-to guide to get you started! For more information and to download flyers, sign up sheets and yard signs, go to: perimeter.org/fooddrivekit 29 INVEST PERIMETER.ORG/SUMMERSERVING 28 INVEST PERIMETER.ORG/SUMMERSERVING