On Friday, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson will be joining over 400 children at the annual Food4Kids Summer Concert Series at summer meal sites throughout the county where children are receiving free, healthy meals.

This is the third of four concerts this summer, adding even more fun and community spirit to these popular and much-needed summer meal programs.

Friday’s “Summer Fun Hawaiian Hoopla” at Chase Palm Park, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., is part of the City of Santa Barbara’s Summer Fun Program — a full-day eight-week program that provides a nutritious breakfast and lunch for over 800 children. Two of Santa Barbara’s most popular youth bands, Awkward and Pernicious Nonsense, will perform, while the kids eat and enjoy games and carousel rides.

Summer should be a time of carefree fun, but it is also when hunger is the most challenging for the nearly 22,000 food insecure kids in our county. With a campaign called Food4Kids, partners throughout the county, including the City of Santa Barbara, the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County and CAC, are working together to increase participation in the 32 places where children can drop in to enjoy a meal. No Kid Hungry’s national spokesman, Jeff Bridges, who lives in Santa Barbara with his family, has spearheaded the effort.

To make it easier to find out where summer meals are served, families throughout the county can text Food4Kids to 877.877 to find a summer meals site in their neighborhood. The texting program is sponsored by the Arby’s Foundation. The next concert will be Aug. 8 at Monroe Elementary.

“Summer is the hardest time for kids in need, when school is out, and their main source of meals is gone,” Bridges said. “We need to make sure the children of Santa Barbara County have the nutritious food they need. The great kids in these bands are doing their part to help all kids have a healthy, happy summer.”

— Laura Burton Capps represents Food4Kids.