To ensure that children in the Greater Richmond and Petersburg areas have access to food year-round, the Chickahominy Family YMCA in Sandston is offering free healthy meals and snacks through its summer food program, thanks to a $5,000 grant funded by the Walmart Foundation.

The Y has partnered with the Walmart Foundation to address child hunger in communities, with a focus on increasing participation in the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which provides free meals to children aged 18 and under while school is out. According to the Food Research and Action Center, only one in seven children who depend on free or reduced-cost meals during the school year received meals though the SFSP last summer.

At the Chickahominy Family YMCA, children will receive two meals and a snack each day. This summer, more than 300 Ys nationwide will offer summer food programs with a collective goal to serve five million healthy meals and snacks to 100,000 children.

Nationally, the Y is a partner in the Walmart Foundation’s 2012 Summer Giving Campaign, which has committed more than $20 million in grants to expand nutrition, learning and employment programs for elementary, middle and high school students in more than 350 communities. The Walmart Foundation contributed a $5 million grant to YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) to address child hunger. Y-USA, in turn, passes the funding along in the form of grants to participating YMCAs.