TULSA, Okla.–For a second year in a row, North Tulsa’s only Black-owned grocery store Oasis Fresh Market is launching free breakfast and lunch for children during the summer months.
From June 2 through August 8, all kids 18 years old and younger have the opportunity to access free food on a first come, first served basis. Breakfast runs from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Lunch runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“When school lets out, thousands of kids lose access to the meals they count on. That’s why Oasis is stepping in and offering free breakfast and lunch, all summer long, no strings attached,” Oasis announced in a Facebook post.
The grocery store, which hosts programs and resources for a community that has long-faced a food desert, said it’s aiming to feed 3,500 kids this summer.
Oasis steps in for free breakfast after state declines
The announcement comes after Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt declined to accept federal aid for summer food assistance for low-income children. “The State of Oklahoma is fully capable of serving children and students without a federal program that has floundered in other states,” Stitt’s spokesperson said. It’s the second year in a row his office declined the food aid.
His decision faced widespread backlash from advocacy groups working to reduce Oklahoma’s ranking as the 6th poorest state in the nation, according to Census data.
“The data shows that running this program benefits Oklahoma children, families, and the economy. Refusing this program fails to bring tens of millions of our own tax dollars back to the state. Governor Stitt’s office’s statement puts political ideology over the wellbeing of 400,000 Oklahoma food-insecure children,” Chris Bernard, President/CEO of Hunger Free Oklahoma said in response to the governor’s decision.
As a Black-owned grocery store in the heart of North Tulsa, Oasis Fresh Market owner AJ Johnson said it was built for moments like this.
“We’re standing on the shoulders of those who came before us–entrepreneurs, visionaries, and community leaders who believed that Black neighborhoods deserve the same access, opportunity and investment as anyone else,” Johnson told the Black Wall Street Times in a statement. “This summer, we’re not just feeding kids–we’re feeding futures.”
Oasis Fresh Market fills gap in the spirit of the Black Panthers
With the state government declining to use Oklahoma’s own tax dollars to support feeding children, several tribal nations have stepped in to help. In the spirit of the Black Panthers, Oasis Fresh Market joins in assisting hungry children for the second year in a row with free breakfast and lunch meals.
J. Edgar Hoover, the founding director of the FBI, considered the Black Panthers as the most dangerous threat to America. Not because of its armed self-defense of its communities and revolutionary message to Black Americans, but because of its free breakfast program.
City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper represents historically Black north Tulsa. For years she’s advocated for solving the food desert created by a city-sanctioned white mob’s destruction of the community during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the decades of unequal policies that followed.
Her efforts secured a moratorium on the over-concentration of unhealthy dollar stores in the area and the establishment of Oasis Fresh Market.
“I’m excited and proud that Oasis Fresh Market continues to be more than just a grocery store but a refuge in North Tulsa providing free breakfast and lunch meals for our children,” Councilor Hall-Harper told the Black Wall Street Times in a statement. “Let us remember the legacy for such programs were laid by the Black Panther Party. Power to the People!”
To learn more about the Oasis Fresh Market free breakfast and lunch program visit Oasisfreshmarket.net or visit their store located at 1725 North Peoria Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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