HSD provides no-cost meal to any children 18 and under
The Hollister School District is again offering free summer
lunch to all children who are 18 and under at four locations in the
city. Students do not need to be enrolled in summer school to be
eligible for the lunch program, which runs June 14 through July 9.
Adults may purchase a low-cost meal for $2.75.
The free summer lunch program started in 2008 and is now in its
third year.
HSD provides no-cost meal to any children 18 and under
The Hollister School District is again offering free summer lunch to all children who are 18 and under at four locations in the city. Students do not need to be enrolled in summer school to be eligible for the lunch program, which runs June 14 through July 9. Adults may purchase a low-cost meal for $2.75.
The free summer lunch program started in 2008 and is now in its third year.
“Last year we didn’t get that many people,” said Janet Felice, the manager of food and warehouse services for the Hollister School District. “We still served all of the students in the program, but as far as getting people from the community not associated with summer school or the YMCA, we had just a handful of people at each school.”
Felice is trying to promote the program to get more participation this year. Children do not need to be enrolled in summer school to get a free meal and families do not need to complete an application for the free or reduced lunch program for the summer session.
“Some of it, I think, is timing,” Felice said, of the drop off in residents who took advantage of the program last summer. “If people are busy for that one hour, they might not think about it.”
The lunches are served at Ladd Lane Elementary School Kitchen, Maze Middle School Kitchen, R.O. Hardin Elementary School Kitchen and at Sunnyslope Elementary School, Monday through Friday. The locations of the lunch service changes each summer based on which schools offer summer school sessions. The meals have to be eaten on site and cannot be taken home.
“We do Sunnyslope because the YMCA is housed there even if there is no summer school,” Felice said. “R.O. Hardin is a good location because it is a walking school. Maze, it’s kind of hard to walk there. Middle school isn’t always as successful just because of the age of the students.”
In the past, R.O. Hardin served 20 or 25 kids or adults outside the summer school program.
“We are doing about a thousand meals total and less than 50 were outside of the programs that we had as a captive audience,” she said.
Felice said the amount of paperwork to offer the free summer lunch program is actually less than required by the United States Department of Agriculture to run just a lunch program for summer school students.
“I’m obligated to provide meals to kids in summer school,” she said. “This actually simplifies the back of the house for me and opens it up for other people in the community.”
The program at R.O. Hardin is serving the preschool programs on campus and will start June 10. If enough people use the program at Sunnyslope, Felice said she can contact the state and extend the program through the end of July.
Information on the program will be posted on the district’s website, www.hesd.org.
Free summer lunch program
Children 18 years and younger can receive a free lunch (adults can purchase lunch for $2.75).
Meals include a fruit cup, juice, white or chocolate milk and a mix of entrees from burritos, cheese pizza, taco pockets and other options. The sites are open Monday through Friday, but will be closed July 5.
Ladd Lane Elementary School Kitchen
161 Ladd Lane
10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
Maze Middle School Kitchen
900 Meridian St.
11:15 a.m. to noon
June 10-July 14
R.O. Hardin Elementary School Kitchen
881 Line St.
10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
June 14-July 14
Sunnyslope Elementary School
1475 Memorial Drive
Noon to 1:15 p.m.
