Summer program provides meals for kids
Noely Fisher, far right and a host of other youngsters pick up their free lunches and breakfasts handed out by School District 6 food service worker Kim Potter last week in Coram.
On a sunny day in Coram last week, a group of youngsters eagerly waited for the bus to arrive.
Because there is a such a thing as a free lunch. Free breakfast, too.
That’s because School District 6, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s summer meals program, will be offering free breakfast and lunches to youths age 2 to 18 through the summer months.
The meals are delivered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with Friday food bags designed to last through the weekend.
The district had started delivering the free meals when schools shut down in due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now it will run the program through the summer, said School District 6 food service director Lori Iunghuhn.
A typical breakfast includes cereal, milk, fruit, granola bars, bagels and muffins. Lunch includes, fruit, veggies, bread, trail mix and packets of peanut butter and jelly so kids can make their own sandwiches.
There is no application for the meals, Iunghuhn said. Kids just need to show up at the right time to pick up the meals. Parents can also pick up meals for children.
At Coram last week, about a dozen kids were waiting for the bus to arrive as was a parent in a car.
Staff wear gloves and face masks when they deliver the meals for added safety.
The district is doing about 1,400 meals a day, Iunghuhn said, but they wanted to get the word out that the program would continue through summer break.
“We’re doing this for the kids,” she said.
The complete list of drop-off sites and schedules is on the school district’s website at www.cfmtschools.net. The direct link is https://cfmtschools.net/free-meals-for-kids/