Limited food options for students during winter break

an especially stressful time for families who can’t afford to feed their children. abc7’s josie ortegon reports: pkg: “nats” janie sincla sot-“this time of year, everybody hopes to have a present under the tree. and a christmas meal and if you’re already struggling it’s really hard.” janie sinclair is the executive director of el pasoans fighting hunger food bank. she says many el pasoans don’t know where their next meal will come from, including 1 in 3 children. with state funding, school districts are able to offer free school lunches through the national school lunch and brekfasts program throughout the school year and they offer the same during the summer, through the summer food service program. but students can’t count on a warm meal during the winter break. sot griffith-“during th wintertime, things are a little bit different, all of the school districts shut down for the winter break, so there’s a two-week period where all schools are closed.” stand-up “school district officials say it would simply cost too much money to bring staff in and provide free meals.” so griffith-“there’s als state and federally funded days that teachers are allowed to work.” sinclair says she sees a spike in the number of families that need food during that small break during the holidays. sinclair sot-“by the end of the month yo have two adults, two kids, rent, heating bill, there’s just not enough money to go around. sinclair and griffith both stress the importance of supporting and donating to local food pantries and banks. because often times, it’s the only option families have a small donation could feed a hungry family. griffith sot-“even though the schools might be closed, there’s still an outpouring of support and love for families all across el paso.” jo, abc7. outpouring of support and love for families all across el paso.” jo, abc7 if you’d like to help the el pasoans fighting food bank. you can call the number on your screen — 915-298-0353 after the break … an el paso family got an early christmas gift today — all