North Penn Offering Free Meals For All Children In The Area

LANSDALE, PA — North Penn is offering free meals for all children in the area as part of its Summer Food Service Program.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Summer Food Service Program helps ensure that no child goes hungry when school is out. The North Penn School District (NPSD) is partnering again this year with its community partners to bring this program to offer this program locally and help bridge the hunger gap that some children may experience during the summer months, the district said.

The program is federally funded and is cost-neutral to North Penn.

“The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) ensures that children continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session,” said Pamela Gallagher, Coordinator of School Nutrition Services for the North Penn School District. “This program has grown exponentially since we started in the summer of 2014. This year we are serving at over 30 sites in the Lansdale area. That shows there is a need in this community and that more and more children are benefiting from the program.”

The program allows summer camps, park programs, daycares and other sites to offer combinations of free breakfasts, lunches and/or snacks between June 19 and August 18.

In addition to these locations, the NPSD mobile meal van will be on the go, delivering free, nutritious meals Monday through Friday to four high-need areas in the community including Hatfield Community Park at 11:00 a.m., Oak Park at 11:45 a.m., Knapp at 12:30 p.m. and York Avenue at 1:15 p.m.All children ages one through age 18 can visit the trucks at these locations to enjoy a free, healthy lunch to fuel their summer day. By bringing meals to children in their neighborhoods, the mobile meal van reduces food access barriers and helps ensure that children are receiving nutritious meals in the North Penn region, the school district said.

Mobile Meal Vans can be found at the following locations from June 19 to August 18, Monday through Friday at specified times below:

Hatfield Community Park (Near Hatfield Village Apartments)

1950 School Road, Hatfield

11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Oak Park Elementary School

500 Squirrel Lane, Lansdale

11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Knapp Elementary School

698 Knapp Road, Lansdale

12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

York Avenue Elementary School

700 York Avenue, Lansdale

1:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Image via North Penn School District