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They never worried that the more than 60 children at River Park Community Center’s summer camp would go hungry.

Community center officials knew they’d be able to scrape together money to buy enough peanut butter and jelly to make PB&J sandwiches.

They knew people would help out, once they heard that for the first time in more than 20 years the community didn’t receive a state-funded food grant.

Mercedes Puente, the center’s manager, said they were informed in early June that they didn’t receive the grant.

Puente said Collier County officials, who administer the funding, said the camp didn’t fit the criteria needed.

“We’re taking it one day at a time,” Puente said after she first got that news.

Camden Smith, a spokeswoman for the Collier County Parks and Recreation department, said growth in the surrounding area reduced the number of families and children that qualified as in-need.

Fifty percent of campers need to qualify as in-need for the camp to be eligible for the grant.

Of the 63 campers, only 23 children qualified, Smith said.

River Park Community Center is in the heart of the River Park neighborhood of Naples. The historically black neighborhood is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city.

More than 32 percent of the students who attend Lake Park Elementary School, the elementary school that River Park students attend, have been classified as in economic need, according to the Collier County School District.

“At this time the city of Naples is working to resolve the issue concerning the 50 percent criteria,” Smith said in a recent e-mail. “He e-mailed us Monday stating they are working on some options that may possibly eliminate the need to transport the children, however a final determination has not been made.”

One option, Smith said, is to combine the city’s summer camp at Gulfview Middle School with the one at River Park, thus bumping up the number of children that qualify for the program.

“Collier County Parks and Recreation staff is aware of the need in River Park and we are sincerely trying to resolve this issue,” Smith said. “It is imperative the public understand our staff is also very concerned about River Park and other children in need, and we are moving every mountain possible to make this happen.”

The county isn’t alone in moving mountains.

When Naples residents heard campers could be going hungry, Puente said, they responded by flooding the camp with donations.

Those donations, Puente said, now means the staff doesn’t need to worry about how they will feed the children.

“People just (helped) out,” she said. “They said this was for the kids. We have enough to make it through the end of the summer.”

It’s still unclear whether the camp will receive a grant next year.

Puente said now that the staff knows how the state determines whether a location is considered in need, it has a better idea of what to do next year. But they’re still unsure whether 50 percent of campers will qualify as “in-need.”

“This was a whole new ball game,” she said.

Smith said at least six other Collier County sites have qualified for the funding this year. Those include Immokalee Community Park, Golden Gate Community Center and areas in Everglades City.