Summer meals for children offered in Palmer and WareDate: 7/5/2023 Summer food service programs can be difficult to find, and some families may not know or have the resources to find which ones are available. Reminder Publishing asked local school districts in the community about their summer food service programs.
The Palmer Public Schools will have its summer food service program providing lunch and breakfast pick-up from July 5 to Aug. 4 to children 18 and under. The summer food service program is free of charge for all children in the Palmer community. Pick up will be available at Palmer High School on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:45 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. People can come to the school, walk up to the booth that will be handing out food and tell the staff how many meals they need. If a child is not present at pickup, the individual will be asked to write down the name of the children that are receiving the meals.
“This will be our fourth year doing the Summer Food Service Program,” said Food Service Director Emily McIntosh-Patnoe. “Our goal is to always have participation. We have been very fortunate to be able to grow the program around 30% year after year. I would like for us to see another increase of 30%, but at minimum not lose any participants.”
She went on to state, “Since we live in an area where the Palmer school district has a high percentage of free and reduced lunches in our community, this allows for families to come to any of our locations and pick up a breakfast and lunch for their child 18 and under.”
The program is first come, first serve. Each day participants can receive two breakfasts, one for that day and another for the following day. The first is a hot meal and the second is a bagged lunch. If participants visit three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they will receive meals for Monday through Saturday.
McIntosh-Patnoe said usually the first week they start off with around 400-500 meals and they adjust. If they see Mondays are a little busier, they may make 600 meals. If they notice Wednesdays are a little slower, they may bring 400-500 down to 375. The first week will be their guideline to see how popular it is going to be that year, and then they make small adjustments.
The entire menu is kid-friendly with different types of deli sandwiches that will come with vegetables, juice and chips, pizza, cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, corn dogs and much more. To keep things on the healthier side, every Wednesday (except for the first Wednesday) they are going to focus on doing entree salads to make sure they are putting fruits and vegetables in the forefront. In addition, they will be doing small giveaways such as a fidget spinner or stickers to the first 100 children that come through the lines on Wednesdays starting July 12.
“We have been moving away from heat and serve items that has been traditionally in the past to more scratch made cooking,” McIntosh-Patnoe added. “This is our first time trying to set up the menu this way, so we’ll see if we have any success with it.”
She continued, “It’s a good way to get the buzz around. I have an amazing crew and I would not have the success that I’ve had with the school system if it wasn’t for them.”
The entire Food Service Department in Palmer is 100% funded by the federal and state government. Visit their website at https://tinyurl.com/5d93cp2x.
The Ware Public Schools has been doing their summer food service program for 25 years, offering free meals for children up to 18 years old, sponsored by the USDA and the Department of Education. The program is running now through Aug. 4, Monday through Thursday. Though Friday is a non-program day, they are still open. Breakfast runs from 8-9 a.m. and lunch is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Stanley M. Koziol Elementary.
Food Service Director Jeff Nicholas at Ware Public Schools explained, “This program is to provide meals for families in need and food in general for people that are out babysitting, or have grandchildren out of town.” He continued, “We’re an open site, so any child from age 1-18 no matter where you are from in this world can walk in and get a meal. No registration or identification is required. Just show up at the feeding time, walk through the door and grab a meal.”
While the program runs, Nicholas said they prepare 700-800 meals a week and 100-200 a day. They record everything they serve; going back to the previous year on what the menu item was, how much was served and what is more popular.
Nicholas said, “Even there, we have no idea of really knowing how we’re going to serve that day and how it’s going to go over. We have good ideas that are menu favorites and there we prepare for a little more.” For instance, if it’s an assorted grinder day, the children will take it, but if there’s a pizza day, the pizza is going to be a much higher count.
This summer’s menu includes mac and cheese, pizza, hot dogs, tacos, quesadillas with black beans, corn and salsa, and tangerine Asian chicken with brown rice and broccoli, in addition to seasonal fruits.
Their goal is to feed as many children as they can, get the word out and reach as many families as they can. “We’ve been doing this for a long time,” Nicholas replied. “It’s a good spot here and we have a lot of people that we see every day which is nice to see.”
Visit https://tinyurl.com/y8vjbapt to learn more about the program and their menu.
Reminder Publishing reached out to Monson Public Schools. The department did not qualify for the Summer Feeding program this year. Therefore, there will be no meals served this summer.
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