With the return of their summer feeding programs this week, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated and Columbus Municipal school districts aim to provide stability for children during a time that is otherwise unstructured.
The Summer Food Service Program is federally funded and aims to fight summer hunger by providing free breakfast and lunch for children after the school year ends.
Last year, SOCSD served 5,700 breakfast portions and 6,400 lunch portions through its summer program, Communications Director Haley Montgomery told The Dispatch Friday.
“We have a high percentage of students who sometimes wonder about where their next meal is going to come from,” she said. “… This is something that we hope will kind of stand in the gap for them.”
The Summer Food Service Program aims to serve low income areas where at least half of the children come from families with incomes at or below 185% of the federal poverty level, which qualifies them for free and reduced-price school meals.
Schools are reimbursed by the Mississippi Department of Education through funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the district’s child nutrition staff will serve the food.
Approximately 68% of SOCSD children qualify for free or reduced lunches, Montgomery said, showing a dire need for programs like this to supplement their nutrition.
SOCSD’s summer feeding schedule started Monday. Meals will be served though June 26 at the Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary cafeteria with breakfast available from 7:45 to 9:30 a.m. and lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Children do not have to be enrolled in school to receive free meals, as anyone under 18 years of age is welcome.
“We want to see our students thrive whether they’re in the classroom or not and we want them to be able to get all the nutrition that they need and for that to be something that’s feasible for… as many families as possible,” Montgomery said.
CMSD’s Summer Feeding Program, which also started Monday, will serve meals weekdays through June 30 at Columbus High School, Hunt Intermediate, Cook Elementary and Stokes-Beard Elementary. Breakfast will be served from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and lunch from 11:00 a.m. to noon.
CMSD served more than 2,900 breakfasts and 5,300 lunches last summer and the district expects even more participation this year, Child Nutrition Director Mia Johnson said in an email to The Dispatch.
Adults who want to eat can purchase breakfast for $2 and lunch for $3.25 at all locations but must pay with cash. SOCSD families can view the daily menu through the MealViewer app and CMSD locations will post menus at the schools.
All SOCSD and CMSD cafeterias will be closed June 19 in commemoration of the Juneteenth holiday. Meals at all locations will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
“Some may not realize how important summer meal programs are, but many children rely on these meals daily because their families may struggle with food insecurity,” Johnson said in an email. “My heart goes out to those families and children who face these challenges every day. Last year, CMSD even had students waiting outside the school for breakfast after a long weekend because they depended on the Summer Feeding Program for meals.”
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