For kids, summer means no school. But for low-income parents, summer means no school meals. That results in a situation that squeezes many already-tight budgets to the breaking point.

Why we do it: About 99,000 King County kids rely on free or reduced-price meals during the school year. But during the summer, only a small percentage of those kids get free, nutritious meals.

To keep kids from going hungry during the summer, we began working off of existing federal programs and expanding them.

Results: At the end of last summer, United Way President and CEO Jon Fine joined Seahawk Russell Wilson and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray to celebrate reaching our 1 millionth summer meal served to kids at over 250 sites like parks, schools and community centers. We couldn’t do this work without the generous support from sponsors like The Boeing Company.

Summer meals are just one way to ensure kids have the nutrition to grow and learn. We’re now taking on breakfast in addition to lunch because as you’ve heard: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Read more about Breakfast after the Bell and tell lawmakers in Olympia this deserves their support.

Want to read more about what we did with your dollars? Check out our 2014 results.