ARKANSAS, USA — Summer is slowly winding down and school districts are now prepping to have students back in the classrooms. Districts are also making sure students have a balanced meal, no matter what their parents' income looks like.
Like many districts, Fayetteville began its summer meal program on June 3, and they'll wrap things up on Aug. 9. Fayetteville's Child Nutrition Director Amy Jefferson said they've served over 18,000 meals at their four locations.
"With grocery prices being high and the cost of living being so high, this is just one more step parents can take just to help release the financial burdens at home," Jefferson said.
Fort Smith Public School said they served over 44,000 meals to students. The last day of their program is on Wednesday, July 31.
"[It's] the importance of making sure that families and students know that they have a secure, safe place to go," Fort Smith's Child Nutrition Director Grace George said.
In Van Buren, they had a summer lunch program that ran through June. They served over 8,000 meals.
"We do a summer program that allows our food truck to go around to different areas in the community and serve kids meals for free," Van Buren's Child Nutrition Director Tessa Clemmons said. "Additionally, we did off-the-porch pickup this year, which is referred to as non-congregate feeding."
All districts said their summer meal programs were very successful. The districts said they realize how important it is for kids to receive meals when school isn't in session.
"Being able to provide that program and know that we still have purpose through the summer to benefit our families and our students even when they're not in session, is just really important for us," Clemmons said. "The school districts in Arkansas are highly focused on quality and consistency, especially at Van Buren. That's just a passion of ours is to give our kids the freshest, the best quality ingredients and meals."
The districts are now encouraging parents to apply for free and reduced meal programs for the upcoming school year. Applications can be found on the districts' websites (Van Buren, Fayetteville, and Fort Smith).
"A family of four, making around $57,000 a year would still qualify for free or reduced lunches," Jefferson said.
Districts encourage parents to apply and get enrolled as soon as possible. George said there are no deadlines for the programs, but the district can use the free and reduced numbers to apply for other grants.
"The sooner they get qualified, the sooner they know they're free or reduced and they don't have to be charged a meal," George said. "The more funding our school district gets, the more programs we can use for even educational purposes, for our students and helping our students be successful and achieve."
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