JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 It can be easy to forget that the joys of summer vacation also bring uncertainty for many children about when they might get a nutritious meal.<\/p>\n
According to Feeding Northeast Florida, 1 in 5 children in Northeast Florida goes to bed hungry. That\u2019s more than 93,000 children who do not have enough food at home.<\/p>\n
And the struggle only grows in the summer months when children who rely on eating breakfast and lunch at school must find those meals elsewhere.<\/p>\n
But one Jacksonville business wants to make things easier.<\/p>\n
The Food Doctor food truck offers free meals for kids during the summer (GoFundMe)<\/p>\n
The Food Doctor food truck is at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and MLK Parkway, which is considered a food desert in Northwest Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
The Food Doctor\u2019s Summer Lunch Program, funded by donations and sponsorships, currently provides free lunches to an average of 60 children Tuesday through Friday. <\/p>\n
But the owners say the need is even greater.<\/p>\n
One customer recently bought $500 worth of meals for kids, and asked others to chip in what they can to pay it forward for the children.<\/p>\n
To continue the program throughout the summer, the owners of The Food Doctor are asking for help from the community.<\/p>\n
They want to expand the free meals for kids to Mondays, and they want to feed more than 75 kids a day, which means they need to increase their staff for the program.<\/p>\n