Summer Food Service Program Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

As School Year Ends, State Prepares For Summer Feeding

The summer months between school years can be a time of uncertainty for students and families that rely on school meals.

Memorial Day is traditionally considered the start of the summer season. School may be out, but hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation.

All but five of West Virginia’s 55 counties provide free breakfast and lunch during the school year to all students, regardless of household income.

The Summer Food Service Program ensures children don’t go hungry while school is out.

Most feeding sites are sponsored by local boards of education, but other community organizations including churches and nonprofits can also sign up to sponsor locations.

In an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Cybele Boehm, coordinator for the West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Child Nutrition, said that applications are still being approved.

“We currently have 422 sites approved to operate,” she said. “We expect around 20 additional sponsoring organizations, so we may reach 450-500 feeding sites.”

Free meals, either breakfast, lunch or both, depending on the site, are open to all children under 18.

“Last year, over 3.2 million meals were served to children in our state, and we are hoping this number increases,” Boehm said.

She said communities can find feeding sites near them by texting “food” to 304-304 and typing their address or zip code. Locations can also be found online via the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Find Meals For Kids” portal.

Summer Food Service Program Kicks Off

The West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Child Nutrition kicked-off their Summer Food Program today at Elk Center Elementary in Kanawha County.

An average of 178,000 West Virginia school children depend on free and reduced-price meals at school throughout the year. But those meals end when school breaks for the summer. The Summer Food Service Program ensures that children in lower-income areas continue to receive free, nutritious meals during summer break. Its funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Summer Food Service program.

Federal funds are provided to agencies including local boards of education, parks and recreation, colleges and universities, community action agencies and churches to help feed hungry children during the summer. The program will provide more than 11,000 meals per day across the state. West Virginia has been highlighted nationally for participation in the Summer Food Service Program.

State Summer Food Program for Students Seeks Help

The state Department of Education is looking for organizations to help feed children and provide supervised activities during the summer.

The department says in a news release that nonprofit groups and county boards of education can participate in the Summer Food Service Program.

The department says that while 178,000 children in West Virginia depend on free and reduced-price meals at school, only about 10,000 receive the free meals through the summer program.

West Virginia Office of Child Nutrition Executive Director Amanda Harrison says 485 sites provided summer meals to kids last year. She says she hopes the number of sites can grow in 2017.

This year’s sites will be announced in May. Organizations interested in participating can contact the Office of Child Nutrition at (304) 558-2709.

Summer Program Brings Free, Nutritious Meals to Children

During the fall and spring school sessions, thousands of West Virginia schoolchildren are fed both breakfast and lunch as part of the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs. But when school is out for the summer, these meals end. This is why the West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Child Nutrition started their Summer Food Service Program.

At the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Charleston, twenty-five children attended the first day of this year’s Summer Food Service Program, a program that, according to summer food coordinator, Amy Burner, ensures children eighteen years and under in lower-income areas continue to receive free, nutritious meals during the summer months.

“The program is designed to help families be able to find a summer feeding site,” said Burner, “where a child can receive a breakfast and a lunch, or a lunch and a snack, so that the parents don’t have to worry about where that meal is going to be coming from.”

Four of the twenty-five children who attended the celebration, proudly show their participation on the Summer Food Service Program promotional brochures.

Feeding sites can include schools, churches, pools, parks, housing complexes, and summer camps, but Burner says that just about anywhere could be a summer feeding site, and she hopes the program keeps expanding.

The kick-off celebration featured three guest speakers, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, Reverend James Patterson, and Diana Limbacher, a representative from the United States Department of Agriculture.

W.Va. to Launch Summer Food Program Wednesday

A federal program that provides free meals to lower-income children during the summer will kick off in West Virginia this week.
The Summer Food Service Program provides funds to county school boards and other nonprofit organizations to provide meals to children 18 years and under.

Feeding sites include schools, churches, pools, parks, housing complexes and summer camps.

The West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Child Nutrition sponsors the program.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and other officials will launch this summer’s feeding program on Wednesday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Charleston.