Official: Regular summer meals important for school readiness

When school's out, students across the region and nationwide may not have access to regular meals, so school and community-based programs often fill a void, said Kevin Concannon, undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Concannon gave interviews this week to promote National Summer Food Service Program Awareness Week. The campaign highlights the importance of summer meals and how they help children return to school ready to learn in the fall.

During the school year, 562,000 Missouri students get lunch daily through the National School Lunch program. Of that number, 350,000 students, or about 63 percent, receive free and reduced-price meals based on family income.

Concannon said teachers and superintendents have told him they can tell when students have been regularly fed over the summer and when they haven't.

Cape Girardeau's nutrition services department offers free breakfasts and lunches to anyone 18 or younger. For 2012-2013, the district served 3,135 breakfasts and 3,499 lunches, communications director Dana Saverino said in an email to the Southeast Missourian.

Nutrition Services coordinator Lisa Elfrink said in an email that Cape Girardeau schools run the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Seamless Summer Option, which requires the district to serve a certain percentage of students who receive free and reduced-price lunches. The past couple of years, that percentage has remained about 64 percent during the year.

"Once a district meets the requirements to serve under Seamless Summer [Option], any child under the age of 18 may come during our posted dates and times to receive breakfast and/or lunch at no charge," Elfrink wrote.

In Cape Girardeau, this year's dates for elementary and middle summer school are from May 28 through June 10. Summer school at Central Junior High and the Alternative Education Center runs from May 27 through June 13, and Central High School's classes are from May 28 through June 24.

For 2012, Perry County District 32 served 4,566 breakfasts, and in 2013, 4,352 breakfasts. In 2012, 11,212 lunches were served, and in 2013, 11,485.

Figures from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education say 52.2 percent of Perry County School District students qualify for free- and reduced-price lunch.

"The district operates a free food service program through grant funding from the Department of Health and Senior Services," Assistant Superintendent Russell Leek said in a news release. "One of the benefits of the program is that any school-aged child (ages 5-18) can receive a free breakfast or lunch on days that summer school is in session.

"The only requirement to receive the free meals is that the child must live within Perry County. They just come to the cafeteria during serving times, and we'll serve them a nutritious meal at no cost," the release said.

In Jackson last year, 3,316 summer school lunches and 1,198 breakfasts were served, Merideth Pobst, director of foundation/communications, said in an email. Summer school is traditionally three weeks long, she wrote.

Scott City schools offer breakfast and lunch for students attending summer school. Free and reduced-price meals are for students who qualify. Superintendent Diann Ulmer said 446 children have enrolled in summer school this year, although that will fluctuate based on attendance. Summer school runs through June 26.

Along with the schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, church groups, service groups, recreation programs, or increasingly, public libraries, offer meal programs.

One example is the East Missouri Action Agency, which offers free lunches through its summer food program for children younger than 18 through July 25, Monday through Friday. If parents want to eat, it's $1 a meal.

Locations are:

* East Missouri Action Agency, lunch, from 11 to 11:45 a.m., 1111 Linden St.

* Boys and Girls Club at Shawnee Park Center, breakfast, 8:30 to 9 a.m., and lunch, 12:15 to 1 p.m., 1157 S. West End Blvd.

* Red Star Baptist Church, lunch, noon to 1 p.m., 1360 N. Main St.

* Soulful Harvest Ministries, lunch, noon to 1 p.m., 624 Good Hope St.

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326 College St., Perryville, Missouri

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