LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. (WFLA) — There are over 7,000 children in Pasco County who are going to bed hungry every night, according to nonprofit One Community Now.

Now, a program coming to the area could help reduce that hunger throughout the school day.

“I usually eat some of them, then eat some another day,” 7-year-old Chase Hudson said as he pulled a bag of pretzels out of a black plastic bag.

Hudson gets a bag of food each weekend from One Community Now. He says protein bars are his favorite.

Their program, “Pack-A-Sack Food 4 Kids,” is designed to help address chronic hunger among children as inflation continues to break the bank for families in the Tampa Bay area.

“Living paycheck to paycheck and everyday life is completely different then back in the day when people were able to make a living,” said Chase’s mother Jenny Hudson.

She isn’t alone.

Pasco County Schools now qualifies for the Community Eligibility Provision, a USDA program for school districts in low-income areas.

This means every student in Pasco County Schools will be able to get free breakfast and lunch this upcoming school year.

“We’re extremely excited to bridge this gap for families and offer students nutritious meals,” said Food and Nutrition Services director Stephanie Spicknall. “They can get an entrée, fruits and vegetables, and a choice of milk at breakfast and lunch everyday for free.”

Now, kids like Chase will be able to learn with a full stomach.

“I think that with inflation on the rise, there were probably many families that were right on the brink last year, qualifying for reduced meals, so we’re excited to bridge that gap and help them not be in that place of struggling and be able to have free meals,” Spicknall said.

The program is made possible through the United States Department of Agriculture Special Assistance Certification and Reimbursement Community Eligibility Provision.

But, how will kids eat during the weekends? That’s where One Community Now steps in with its “Pack-A-Sack Food 4 Kids” program, making sure children have food to eat every weekend.

“We’ve had children tell us that their moms maybe had an addiction and this was the only way they could eat,” said One Community Now Client Relations Specialist Robin Kohl. “They would bring their sacks home and hide it and that’s how they would eat on the weekends.”

Kohl sees childhood hunger firsthand in Pasco County.

“I’m just thrilled,” she said. “I’m thrilled for the kids, and then there won’t be as much of a stigma attached to getting a free lunch or breakfast.”