Even with schools letting out for summer on Thursday, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated and Columbus Municipal school districts’ meal programs will help students know where their next meals will be coming from.
SOCSD has served free summer meals to local children for more than two decades, Child Nutrition Director Ginny Hill told The Dispatch.
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. The Mississippi Department of Education reimburses schools that participate in the program with funds from the United States Department of Agriculture.
“What this provides the community is that any child 18 years or younger can come eat breakfast and lunch free every day that we’re open,” Hill said.
The 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.
More than one in five children in Mississippi go to bed hungry most nights, according to the Mississippi Food Network.
In the 2022-2023 school year, more than 95% of students in each CMSD school qualified for free and reduced lunch. At SOCSD, nearly 70% of students qualified.
Hill said the summer food service program saves students and their families the stress of finding a balanced meal while school is out for the summer.
“This program can bridge the gap for students who might only rely on school meals for their balanced or prepared meals,” she said. “This can also alleviate the burden on the food budget for families by coming and eating these free meals.”
SOCSD will be providing free meals June 3-28 at the Henderson Ward Stewart cafeteria. Breakfast will be served between 7:45 and 9:30 a.m., and lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The SOCSD program averages about 400 students per day during lunchtime. But Hill said students aren’t the only community members benefiting from the meal program.
“Some parents bring students or we have different community groups that will bring their groups, so those adults will buy a meal,” she said.
Adults can purchase breakfast for $2 and lunch for $3.25 at Henderson Ward Stewart during the same times students are served meals.
CMSD will also be serving free meals for children under 18 years of age from June 3 to July 12.
CMSD Public Information Officer Mary Pollitz said the program is vital to the community. The district served more than 25,000 meals to children during the summer of 2022.
“Our students rely on receiving regular meals throughout the school year, and we don’t want any child to have to wonder when they will have their next meal,” she said. “This program helps make sure our students have access to hot and healthy meals throughout the summer months.”
All CMSD schools will be serving meals this summer except for Union Success Academy. Breakfast is served from 7:30 to 8 a.m., and lunch is served from 11 a.m. to noon.
All students at SOCSD and CMSD will resume normal classes for the districts’ 2024-2025 school year on July 25.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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