Foodbank's Picnic in the Park provides kids in Santa Barbara County with free meals
Jun. 15—Students started picking up free meals Monday at Minami Park and Grogan Park in Santa Maria as part of Foodbank of Santa Barbara County's Picnic in the Park program.
Starting at 11 a.m., volunteers at the parks handed out healthy lunches to kids from kindergarten through age 18 who didn't need to register or show ID, said a Foodbank spokeswoman.
The lunch scheduled for Monday was the vegetarian Pretzel Goldfish Kit prepared by Revolution Foods.
Meals include the fresh vegetable of the day and fresh fruit or fruit juice, and youths had a choice of 1% or fat-free milk with their lunches.
Picnic in the Park, which kicked off Monday at other locations in Santa Maria, Guadalupe and Solvang, is just one of several free meal programs conducted by a coalition of school districts, cities and nonprofit organizations every summer to provide healthy food to students who often rely on free school lunches during the school year for their nutrition.
The city of Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department is providing free meals through its Safe and Strong All Summer Long program, which includes games and sports at the distribution sites, and Lompoc Unified School District Child Nutrition Services is serving up free lunches through its Grab n' Go Meals.
Music is also being provided at some locations by DJs and live by student musicians through the Summer Meal Concert Series, supported by No Kid Hungry.
Parents and students can find the closest free summer food distribution site by texting "SUMMERFOOD" to 877-877.
