Kids’ Cuisine Summer Meals Program A Hit With Low-Income Kids, Parents

Four days into the Summer Food Service Program at Borah Elementary School, Dorothy Metcalf knows that pizza will be the most popular lunch she serves.

Soon, she’ll also be able to tell which children are scarfing down their only real meal of the day.

“You get to know who are the real hungry ones,” the kitchen supervisor said Wednesday as kids chowed down on chicken nuggets. “We don’t advertise it, but if they want seconds, they can get a whole second meal.”

During the school year, free lunches provide vital nutrition for students from low-income families. The federally funded Summer Food Service Program recognizes that kids still need to eat even though classes aren’t in session.

The Coeur d’Alene School District has participated for four years. Bonner County schools are offering meals for a second summer.

To qualify, at least half of the children in a given school or neighborhood must be eligible for free or reduced-cost meals during the school year. Not every school that qualifies has a summer lunch program.

Families don’t have to fill out any paperwork.

“A lot of these kids just get up and come in on their own,” said Linda Turner, food service director in Coeur d’Alene.

She hopes no one stays away because they’re embarrassed about accepting the food.

When the district sent home fliers announcing the program sites on the last day of school, Turner said, “four parents called to say how grateful they were that their kids had somewhere to go.”

In Coeur d’Alene, as many as 900 kids are fed. Breakfast is served from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Lunch is dished out from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The schools are Borah, Hayden, Ramsey, Sorensen and Winton elementaries; Project CDA high school; and Lakes Middle School.

In Bonner County, half of the 14 schools qualify. But lunch is served only at the two largest elementary schools - 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Farmin/Stidwell, and 11 to noon at Priest River.

Food services director Sharon MacInturff often hears from people who are upset because they think the cash-strapped school district is paying for the free lunches.

“It’s all federal funding,” she said. “And with welfare reform, that may go away in the future.”

One bonus of the lunch program is that it provides jobs for school district cooks, indirectly feeding even more families.

The relaxed pace makes summer a good time to train workers, said Turner, and an enjoyable time for the kitchen staff.

“The ladies get a lot out of it. During the school year, it’s so crowded and so fast you don’t get to know the kids.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo