45 new locations open to provide free summer meals for kids

45 new locations open to provide free summer meals for kids

(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — More than 35 percent of Utah students in kindergarten through high school qualified for free or reduced-priced school lunches during the 2015-16 school year.

And for some of those kids, school lunch was the only meal they had each day. So what happens to these students during the summer months when school is not in session?

The federally funded Summer Food Service Program has responded to Utah's more than 220,000 hungry students by opening 45 new locations this year, making the state home to 283 free summer lunch spots for kids from low-income families.

For working parents such as Christina Chacon, the Summer Food Service Program is the only thing keeping her children's tummies full during the summer.

Chacon takes her three older children to the Central City Community Center in Salt Lake City where they participate daily in a variety of classes as well as frequent field trips in the YouthCity summer program. Rates for the program fluctuate according to family income, and all children are served free lunch each day.

Chacon said the program has alleviated a lot of stress for her as a mother of four.

“Rather than having them at home and worrying what they’re going to eat, I know that they are taken care of there and that they have a meal that they love," she said.

In the past, Chacon's children were also welcomed for breakfast at another local Summer Food Service Program site on their way to camp.

Other locations offer up to two meals per day and include parks, libraries, schools and churches where children do not need to be part of a program to eat. In all, 254 free lunch sites are open to any child under the age of 18 and do not require ID or proof of residency.

Each site is located in an area where at least 50 percent of children receive free or reduced-priced lunches during the school year, according to Matt Anderson, child care program coordinator with the Utah State Office of Education.

Anderson said he encourages anyone located near the lunch sites to "get out and active," while also enjoying a good meal.

Utahns Against Hunger spokeswoman Marti Woolford says "summer food" itself fosters a culture of community.

"Kids get to see their friends, they get to interact," Woolford said. "And then there's families sitting on blankets spending great quality time together. The kids are getting a good social interaction and a healthy meal."

At many sites, parents may join their children for lunch by purchasing meals for themselves for about $3.

The Utah Food Bank is now offering meals on Saturdays as well as weekdays.

Meals complete with protein, vegetables, juice or milk, and often a light dessert provide nutrition for kids who might not get it any other way.

Woolford says by decreasing some financial strain, parents don't have to "stretch" their funds so thin, and can instead purchase nutritious food for the meals they are able to provide at home.

"Families have so much on their plates these days," she said. "Rent and food prices continue to increase, and wages have not kept up with the price of living."

According to Woolford, the average household price of food goes up $300 per child in the summer, so parents rely heavily on the Summer Food Service Program.

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