Staff report

Youths of all ages will be able to receive free food at the end of the week in Port Arthur.

The Second Half of Summer Feeding Kickoff Event is taking place Friday at Memorial Stadium on 2200 Jefferson Drive in conjunction with Camp of Champions Football Camp.

It is a joint effort involving Triangle Community Outreach, Southeast Texas Food Bank and Camp of Champions to provide food to children and families in need. HONEY Foundation sponsors the camp.

The Camp of Champions is a football camp started by New England linebacker Elandon Roberts and CFL Hall of Famer Don Narcisse. Registration was open to children ages 6 to 18, and the camp will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Triangle Community Outreach will provide food for camp attendees about halfway through the program.

The Southeast Texas Food Bank will provide produce for children and low-income families around midday in the parking lot of Memorial Stadium.

Food Bank Executive Director Dan Maher said there would be no verification process for families’ income level or proof of residency. The produce would be served on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Maher mentioned that the event was entitled “Second Half” because Port Arthur Independent School District fulfills students’ meal needs during the first half of summer with programs like summer school.

“About 27 percent of children in Jefferson County lack adequate access to nutrition at home,” Maher said in a news release for the event. “Summer feeding programs around our area are an important way to help families maintain the access to food that their children have at school during the school year.”

“We will have dozens of summer feeding sites operating throughout the summer,” Pearlanna Carron, director with Outreach, said in the same release.

“The need is especially great in Port Arthur after the impact of Hurricane Harvey, so we hope families will use the sites we are operating near them and not get stressed out about how to feed their children this summer.”

Families interested in identifying feeding locations near them can access information by calling 2-1-1, texting FOOD to 877-877 or using an interactive map found at www.summerfood.org.