First Lady Cooper visits Durham camps that feed N.C. children's minds and bodies

Eastway Elementary in Durham bustled with chatter Wednesday morning as children played at the East Durham Children’s Initiative (EDCI) Science Technology Engineering Arts Math (STEAM) and Literacy Camp. Campers finished their morning instruction while also preparing to welcome a special guest joining them for lunch. 

North Carolina First Lady Kristin Cooper visited EDCI’s STEAM and Literacy Camp during a tour of summer meal sites in Durham and Raleigh to highlight and learn from programs that combat food insecurity. 

Since taking on the role of first lady, Cooper has focused on programs and initiatives that target adverse childhood experiences. In addition to visiting EDCI, Cooper also visited the Advance Community Health summer program, which provides lunch and educational services to children in Southeast Raleigh. 

“The Governor and I would really like to see universal breakfast for every child in this state," Cooper said. "It’s a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. It’s never been a problem about not having enough food. We waste tons of it. The problem has always been about getting food to people who need it.” 

According to the Map the Meal Gap report by Feeding America, Durham has a food insecurity rate of 17.3 percent. This is higher than Orange County at 13.2 percent and Wake County at 12.7 percent. For many children, food insecurity intensifies during the summer without access to free and reduced breakfast and lunch offered at school. 

EDCI is a place-based nonprofit that works with children in East Durham from birth through high school graduation that provides several opportunities for children and families in the area to access food throughout the summer. Last year, the EDCI Summer Lunch program provided meals to 563 children and adults with food from the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. 

The organization also offers mobile farmers markets and provides information on food and nutrition options for families. 

The most successful EDCI programs that provide students with free meals, however, are the three summer camps offered at locations throughout East Durham. EDCI President and CEO David Reese said that the camps are strong because they target not only the underlying problem of food insecurity, but the issue of learning loss as well. 

“What our data says is that, if we get kids to camp consistently over a six-week period then we will begin to stop learning loss,” Reese said.

EDCI STEAM Summer Camp, EDCI BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life) Summer Camp and YMCA Camp High Hopes provide over 180 participants with free breakfast and lunch, classroom instruction and other projects.

In 2017, EDCI partnered with North Carolina State University’s College of Education to build a curriculum for the summer programs that focus on reading, writing and math. Students have class in the morning, followed by an afternoon of more traditional camp activities, like board games and sports. 

Reese said that, through pre- and post-camp testing, EDCI has seen an increase in math and literacy ability among camp participants.

Eastway Elementary Principal Shayla Holeman said the summer camps are "safe havens" provide invaluable resources and instruction to students that would likely otherwise fall behind during the summer months. 

“This program and others like it, our children need it,” Holeman said. “The reality is, they’re able to receive academics and fun. They have attention from adults who care about them, and they’re having experiences that normally they wouldn’t. There’s nothing that I can say that will truly emphasize the necessity of a program like this.” 

EDCI partners with 40 local organizations to provide year-round services to families with the goal of preparing children for high school graduation and beyond. According to the EDCI Year Six Impact Summary, the program has enrolled 1,612 children, with 43 percent participating in three or more programs throughout the year. 

The program plans to increase in scale in coming years.

“This is not just about East Durham,” Reese said. “This is really about how to create a model which works within similar communities to ours.”