Local schools kicks off Summer Food Service Program

GLENDA SANDERS |, The Meridian Star, Miss.
·3 min read

Jun. 5—Food service workers from Meridian and Lauderdale County schools were busy on Monday preparing nutritious meals for students as part of both school districts' summer meals programs.

Both school districts offer a Summer Food Service Program, which is a federally funded program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture that provides free meals during the summer to any children ages 18 and younger at no cost. The aim of the program is to ensure children have access to nutritious meals and snacks when school is not in session.

Both school districts kicked off their summer meal programs on Monday although they operate them a little differently.

Meridian Public Schools

In the Meridian Public School District, summer meals will be offered at four city schools, as well as at four other locations throughout the city, and will run through July 21.

Breakfast and lunch meals will be available Monday through Friday at the following school sites: Meridian High School, TJ Harris Upper Elementary School, TJ Harris Lower Elementary School and Poplar Springs Elementary School.

Students can eat their meals on campus or take them home in to-go packages, said Matt Davis, public relations director for the Meridian Public School District.

Breakfast is available from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at TJ Harris Upper Elementary, Poplar Springs Elementary and Meridian High schools. Lunch at these schools is available from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

Breakfast is available at TJ Harris Lower Elementary from 7:30 to 7:50 a.m. and lunch from 11:30 a.m. until noon.

In addition, these city sites will serve lunch only Monday through Friday: Meridian Village Apartments from 11 to 11:20 a.m.; Southern Estates from 12:10 to 12:30 p.m.; Trinity Church from 11:45 a.m. to noon; and Multi-County Meridian from 11:40 to 11:55 a.m.

The Meridian Public School District has participated in the Summer Food Service Program for several years and provides meals for about 1,500 children daily during the summer months, officials said.

The meal program will operate Monday through Friday. No meals will be provided on weekends or on federal holidays, Monday, June 19, and Tuesday, July 4.

Lauderdale County Schools

In the Lauderdale County School District, the Summer Food Service Program will be offered for the month of June at Northeast Lauderdale elementary and middle schools. Breakfast is served from 7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. and lunch is served from 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

The breakfast and lunch meals are dine-in only, and students do not have to be registered at a school to receive the free meals, said Katina Dixon, Lauderdale County School District Director of Child Nutrition. The summer food program will run through June 30.

Dixon said the district gets a lot of summer campers and groups who come into the two schools to eat breakfast and lunch.

"We are providing a nutritious and balanced meal for the children during the summer," she said. "Parents do not have to worry about cooking meals because we provide breakfast and lunch."

For more information on the Summer Food Service Program, please visit the MPSD website at www.mpsdk12.net or call (601) 512-0464 or visit the LCSD website at www.lauderdale.k12.ms.us or call (601) 693-1683.

Contact Glenda Sanders at gsanders@themeridianstar.com.