Mary Lou Langenhop with the Children's Hunger Alliance says the number of kids who got free lunches last July jumped 5 and a half percent over July 2007 - to more than 61,000.
But Langenhop says there are many thousands more kids who are eligible but are going hungry.
Langenhop says not only are hungry kids not getting fed, but the state is losing out on as much as 9 million dollars in federal funding that's available to help feed those children.