Kids Get Free Meals All Summer

With summer here, kids can receive free breakfast and lunch—an opportunity that 31 million children participate in every day through the Summer Food Service Program from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In Gilroy, 400 kids are served every day and that only accounts for those in Power School, a summer camp supporting students through expanded learning opportunities, at , according to Nalani Battaglia, child nutrition consultant for the .

"Part of the effort to make sure that kids are getting enough to eat this summer is letting people know about the summer feeding sites," said Caitlin Kerk, spokeswoman for Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. "We want to make sure that everyone in our community that wants a meal can get a meal."

The menus are similar to what the kids receive at school, Battaglia said. Options include pasta, chicken nuggets, corn dogs or sandwiches for lunch, and the salad bar is always open. There are fresh vegetables and fresh fruit available for both meals.

Battaglia said that sometimes she brings in seasonal fruits such as grapes or cantaloupe as an addition to the regular apples, oranges and bananas.

“Whenever I do something new, [the kids] seem to get really excited,” she said.

SHFB gives their partner organizations more food during the summer, half of which consists of produce. Kerk explained that SHFB provides more protein-rich foods such as peanut butter and turkey dogs, too. 

Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack created new nutrition guidelines for school lunches that will be effective for the 2012-2013 school year, according to the . In addition to limiting calories through portion control, students will see changes in what they are offered:

• Both fruits and vegetables every day
• Increased whole grain foods
• Fat-free or low-fat milk instead of higher fat options
• Reduced saturated fat, trans fat and sodium foods

Even though they don’t have to start following the new regulations until July, Battaglia said, “we’re already pretty much there.”

This year Gilroy has two feeding sites, whereas last year there were five, Battaglia said. Three operated by the school district were just for summer school and Power School, and the city used the other two for their programs.

The summer school and Power School programs attract a lot of students to the free summer meals. 

The number of meal sites per city is based on the number of programs that are operating, Battaglia said.

Last summer, 20,000 students received lunches and 16,000 students received breakfasts through the summer program in Gilroy within a six-week period. At , 9,000 students were served lunches, Battaglia said.

“This year more than others I’ve received more parent phone calls,” Battaglia said, “so I anticipate a little more participation from the community.”

The two summer feeding sites are open Monday through Friday from June 15 to July 20, with the exception of July 4. Meals are served at , 7800 Carmel St., Gilroy, and , 9300 Wren Ave., Gilroy. Breakfast is served from 8:45 to 9:30 a.m. and lunch is served from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m.

Call the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-6-HUNGRY (1-866-648-6479) to find a summer site near you. 

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