Children don't need to go hungry over the summer just because school is out.
Many school cafeterias across Benton and Washington counties continue serving breakfast, lunch or snacks during the week just as they do from August through May. The programs are open to any child and often sell meals for adults who are with them.
Summer meal programs for children
Free for children up to age 18, and meals for purchase for adults accompanying children. Most programs offer meals Monday through Friday, except for this Monday for Memorial Day and on July 4.
Bentonville
• June 6-July 29 at Mary Mae Jones Elementary, 500 SE 14th St. Breakfast served starting at 7:30 a.m. Lunch begins at 10:30 a.m.
Fayetteville
• June 13-July 29. Asbell Elementary School, 1500 N. Sang Ave. Lunch at 10:45 a.m. Snack at 1 p.m.
Rogers
May 31-Aug. 5
• Annex Building, 2922 S. First St. Breakfast at 7 a.m. Lunch at 11 a.m.
• Heritage High School, 1114 S. Fifth St. Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Lunch at 11 a.m.
• Mathias Elementary School, 1609 N. 24th St. Lunch at 11 a.m.
• Southwind Place Apartments, mail pavilion at 2200 N. 12th St. Lunch at 11 a.m.
• DoubleTree Apartments, mail pavilion at 601 W. Easy St. Lunch at 11:15 a.m.
• Center for Nonprofits, dining room at 1200 W. Walnut St. Lunch at 11:30 a.m.
Springdale
May 31-Aug. 5. Lunch at 11:30 a.m.
• Bayyari Elementary School, 2199 Scottsdale St.
• George Junior High School, 3200 S. Powell St.
• Jones Elementary School, 900 S. Powell St.
• Parson Hills Elementary School, 2326 Cardinal Drive
• Westwood Elementary School, 1850 McRay Ave.
West Fork
• Continues May 31-July 29 at West Fork Elementary School Cafetorium, 359 School Ave. Breakfast at 8 a.m. Lunch at 11:30 a.m.
For more information
Check with your school district or online at www.fns.usda.gov/su…, but call ahead as the list of sites continues to be updated.
Source: School districts, Arkansas Department of Human Services
Food partners benefiting from One Million Meals campaign
Benton County: Helping Hands, Bentonville; Oasis Food Bank at Village Bible Evangelical Free Church, Bella Vista; First Baptist Church of Lowell Food Pantry, Lowell; Samaritan Community Center in Rogers; The Genesis House in Siloam Springs and Gentry; Bright Futures of Pea Ridge in Pea Ridge; and Gravette Gardens in Gravette
Madison County: Open Arms Food Pantry and Madison County Senior Activity & Wellness Center Meals on Wheels in Huntsville
Sebastian County: Community Services Clearing House, River Valley Regional Food Bank and River Valley Food for Kids in Fort Smith
Washington County: The Ambassador Club, Farmington; M&N Augustine Foundation, Salvation Army in Fayetteville; The Grace Place in Lincoln; Prairie Grove Elementary School Backpack Program; House of Hope Rescue Mission and Tyson and Jones elementary schools in Springdale; and West Fork Elementary School Backpack Program
McDonald County, Mo.: Crosslines of McDonald County
Also, Northwest Arkansas Food Bank
Source: Arvest Bank
West Fork School District has provided summer meals for several years through the Arkansas Department of Education's Seamless Summer Option. The program started because more than half of West Fork children qualify for free and reduced-price meals, said Danny Beard, child nutrition director.
"It's a program that the community needs," Beard said. "All they have to do is show up, come in and get a tray."
The only information the child nutrition staff needs is an age, Beard said. The staff shows child-friendly movies for entertainment.
Beard is working to promote the program this year because of low participation last year, he said. Last summer, participation dropped to about 60 children per day, enough for the program to break even. Beard needs to feed 100-150, though, for the program to be sustainable, he said.
West Fork is a rural district and transportation is an issue for some families, he said.
If low participation continues, the district will have to end the program, Beard said.
"It's all scratch cook," he said. "We do it there in the kitchen. Everything is cooked fresh."
The Seamless Summer Option and a Summer Food Service Program are two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs offered for communities to provide summer meals for children. The department reimburses organizations serving meals.
The Seamless Summer Option is an option for districts through federal National School Lunch or the School Breakfast programs for schools to serve free meals to children from low-income areas, according to the federal agency. Districts apply to participate through the Arkansas Department of Education's Child Nutrition Unit.
At least 57 school districts across the state are offering summer meals sites this summer through the Seamless Summer Option, said Sheila Chastain, associate director for the Child Nutrition Unit.
The Summer Food Service Program is coordinated through the Arkansas Department of Human Services. About 50 sites in Arkansas are offering meals through this program, said Leslie Lankster, spokeswoman for the federal agency's Food and Nutrition Service.
Schools participate in both programs, but nonprofit organizations or local governments can apply to sponsor a Summer Food Service Program. Information about the Summer Food Service Program can be found at dhs.arkansas.gov/dccece/snp/summerinfom.aspx.
Summer lunches will be offered at five sites in Springdale, said Carol Godfrey, child nutrition director for Springdale School District. The summer meal program served nearly 11,000 meals last year.
In Rogers, summer meal programs last year reached about 900 children per day, said Ashley Siwiec, spokeswoman for the district. A mobile meal service started within the last couple of years to provide meals at two apartment complexes and at the Center for Nonprofits, 1200 W. Walnut St.
The issue of child hunger when school's out prompted Arvest Bank to move its annual food drive from the fall to the spring, said Michelle Fittro, a Benton County spokeswoman for Arvest Bank. Food partners who benefit from the food drive told Arvest Bank of a need for food in the summer months.
Children are out of school, and some are not able to get to the sites offering free meals, Fittro said. The organizations also experience a drop in donations during the summer.
"There's a need for food year round," Fittro said. "You sometimes forget there are certain times a year they don't have as much support."
The bank's One Million Meals campaign just wrapped up and hit 1.2 million meals May 14. The food drive involves bank locations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, though donations made within a county stay in that county, Fittro said.
Fayetteville's annual summer meal program begins June 13. The program will offer a lunch with a fruit, vegetable, meat and meat alternative, and a grain, said Ally Mrachek, the district's child nutrition director. Snacks are usually a fruit and grain. Menus are posted online.
"Sometimes food is hard to find in the summer," Mrachek said. "We like to provide a consistent place to get a healthy meal for anyone 18 and younger."
NW News on 05/31/2016