Posted on 06/02/2010 8:31:11 PM PDT by Gennie
Published Wednesday June 2, 2010 By Dennis Friend WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE
COUNCIL BLUFFS -- The summer lunch program begins Monday at Council Bluffs district schools.
This year, adults who accompany the children also will be able to eat for free.
Virginia Bechtold, the school district's nutrition services supervisor, said a group called Hunger Free Heartland prompted the change this year, and the Mutual of Omaha Foundation and the Food Bank of the Heartland will pay for the adult meals.
"The Food Bank of the Heartland offered this to us," she said.
Comparisons of June lunch averages over a three-year period show about 550 children showed up for the free lunches each day in 2007, while 800 ate the lunches in 2008 and 752 children did so in 2009.
This year's numbers should be much larger, she predicted, partly because of more students in summer school and partly because of an increased participation by day care and other groups involving children.
Meals will be provided by the federal Summer Food Service Program every Monday through Friday, although no meals will be served July 2 or 5.
The lunches will be served at the following elementary schools: Bloomer, 210 S. Seventh St. until July 30; Franklin, 3130 Ave. C, until July 30; Roosevelt, 517 N. 17th St., until July 30; Walnut Grove, 2920 Ave. J, until July 30; and Washington, 207 Scott St., until July 7.
Lunches will be served at Thomas Jefferson High School, 2501 W. Broadway, until July 30 and at the Carter Lake Boys and Girls Club, 4105 N. 17th St., until July 23.
Breakfast will be available at Bloomer, Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson and Walnut Grove until July 1.
No paperwork or proof of income will be required and no local funds are used, Bechtold said.
It's a federally funded program. Children from toddler through age 18 may participate, because "all kids need a nutritious meal. We don't ask questions, they don't have to fill out applications," Bechtold said.
Federal regulations require all meals to be served and eaten on site. Sanitation rules mean shirts and shoes are required, and Bechtold said a clean, safe atmosphere will be maintained at the sites. Anyone engaging in unruly or disruptive behavior will be expelled permanently from the program.
Bechtold said it's clear to her that the need exists. The number of students in the district who qualified for free or reduced-price lunches rose from 54 percent at the start of the 2007-08 school year to 62 percent, or 5,777 students, by the end of the 2009-10 school year, Bechtold said.
Federal law requires school districts with a certain percentage of households qualifying as economically disadvantaged to provide the summer program, Grant said.
Food offered during the summer program will be similar to standard school fare, but will feature more “kid-friendly” treats such as hamburgers, pizza and chicken nuggets, Grant noted. - Big Spring Herald - Free lunch! (for kids, anyway)
"I can imagine how many kids are not able to come eat in free programs that are probably at home; waiting for their parents each day to come home and be fed," Pinon says. - centraltexasnow.com - Local school districts offer free summer meals
“I always tell folks, at the end of the school year, everyone thinks all of the children are thinking about where they are going on summer vacation and what they'll be doing,” said Cheryl Evans-McDonald, summer food services program coordinator with the South Carolina Department of Social Services. “But you've got other children who are thinking about where their next meal's coming from. Some children aren't happy to see school get out because they know they won't have anything to eat. We're here to help them.”
...
Already, Evans-McDonald said, people are calling to ask about where free lunches will be served.
“I do anticipate with the economy being the way it is, it's making a huge impact on the need,” she said. “We're out there doing what we can. It's a busy time. If you could just see the faces of the children, to just be getting a meal and taking something home to eat later or taking something home to their grandparents or parents. … That really is what it's all about.” - Free lunch! (for kids, anyway)
The Summer Food Service Program is designed to fill that nutrition gap and make sure children can get the nutritious meals they need. - USDA Summer Food Service Program Site
Now the last quote up above is direct from the USDA site, the point being that the kids will have access to nutritious, healthy food that they "obviously" couldn't get at home, right? Well, I decided to try and find some of the menus, now bear in mind that each school district is going to have a different menu, but take a gander at these - Albuquerque Summer Lunch Program
Here's a wonderful breakfast for a kid -
Poptart Fresh Fruit Milk
Or how about this for a lunch?
Chocolate Milk Chicken O Rings BBQ Sauce Cinnamon Apple Cup Fruit Punch
This stuff looks like garbage to me, and surely kids could get a Pop Tart at home. Stuff like this just really upsets me, though I guess it's just all part of a bigger picture.
It's a federally funded program.
Welcome to FR and good post.
Staying on the government tit for all their lives. Just what zero wants, more people depending on government. Austin ISD is doing the same thing here.
If you hadn’t said it, no one would know it was your first post. Well done!
We’re so screwed. Nothing I read or hear surprises me any more-—many days I feel like I’ve waked up in a parallel universe........
Yes we are - and this is straight out of the dem playbook.
So, now the daycares that used to provide lunches just pack the kids up and take them to the school for 'free' grub?
These programs are despicable.
I live across the street from an elementary school. The number of “parents” dropping their little ninos off for “free” breakfast while driving new cars is utterly disgusting.
The goobermint should not be in the business of feeding children, certainly not the 95% that are on “free” breakfast and lunch at that grade school. Parents who don’t feed their kids should be prosecuted for child abuse.
Now they’ve extended them to adult parasites as well.
Many of these blood suckers are - wait for it - ILLEGAL ALIENS who do not have to prove citizenship (as the article states) for leeching on to the necks of the taxpayers.
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