During the summer of 2016, the Keystone Oaks School District provided 12,000 free lunches to children and that number could go even higher next summer.
The summer lunch program at Keystone Oaks began in 2015 and the school district provided about 6,000 bagged lunches the first year. Any child under age 18 can receive a bagged lunch, even if they don’ t live in the Keystone Oaks area. The Pennsylvania Department of Education and the U. S. Department of Agriculture fund the program.
Kevin Lloyd, food service director for the school district, says he was surprised and pleased that more children participated in the summer lunch program in 2016.“ Never in a million years did we expect this kind of growth, but it was a nice surprise and we were prepared to deal with it,” says Lloyd.
Lloyd thinks the increase in demand was due to better awareness of the program as well as willingness to participate. During the school year, families who qualify for free or reduced lunches often insist on paying for meals because they don’ t want to accept government benefits.“ People shy away from it because they don’ t want to be labeled as being needy,” Lloyd says.
Nevertheless, many families rely on free lunches during the school year and that need doesn’ t go away during the summer. Before the summer lunch program began in 2015, children from financially challenged families in the Keystone Oaks area were not eating properly during the summer.
“ Now these families are able to maintain a healthy diet year-round,” Lloyd says.
He feels that part of the increase in demand for summer lunches may be due to the fact that there are more financially challenged families in the area, but thinks most of it is due to the fact that families are more willing to participate. Supervisors and staff developed relationships with children during the summer and encouraged them to publicize the program by word of mouth.
Every day, food service workers and supervisors started to prepare lunches at 6 a. m. and began delivering them at 10:30 a. m. The bagged lunches included a sandwich, healthy snacks, milk, fruit and vegetables. Children could choose from five or six different sandwiches every day and eat something different every day of the week.
The school district distributed lunches at six locations, including Keystone Oaks High School, Castle Shannon Library and at recreation programs in Dormont and Green Tree. Each day, about 300 meals were prepared and there were very few left over.
“ The staff is skilled and highly trained, so they have it down to a science,” says Lloyd.
Although it’ s still early, the number of locations might expand in the summer of 2017. The school district has partnered with the Castle Shannon Library and other groups to organize activities and games for the children who needed a free lunch during the summer. Lloyd would like to offer more activities in the summer of 2017 so the program doesn’ t become mundane.
The program has received a lot of positive feedback. Children enjoy the variety of sandwiches from which they can choose and look forward to lunch every day. Lloyd hopes more schools will participate in the summer lunch program in the future because more than 140,000 children in southwestern Pennsylvania qualify for free or reduced lunch programs. n
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Never in a million years did we expect this kind of growth. But it was a nice surprise and we were prepared to deal with it.
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Keystone Oaks | Winter 2016 | icmags. com 21