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Summer meals free to all under 18

Lake City Public Schools is participating in a state program to bring free breakfast and lunches to students over the summer.

Weekdays between June 10 and Aug. 16 (excluding the week of July 4). People under 18 can come to Bluff View Elementary School for breakfast between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. and lunch between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

No account is needed. A headcount will be taken as meals are served to allow the program to be reimbursed, Supt. Erick Enger said.

Adults can eat too, but they have to pay. Breakfast is $2.50 and lunch is $4.05.

Brian Wright with Lunchtime Solutions, the district’s food service venue, has already implemented a similiar program in the Zumbrota-Mazeppa school district, Enger said, so Lake City won’t be reinventing the wheel.

Lake City Public Schools qualified for the program by identifying a census area within the school district where more the 50 percent of the students qualified for free and reduced-priced lunch during the school year, Enger said. The approval is good for five years, as long as the school district operates it continuously.

Meals are available to all children whether or not they qualify for free and reduced lunches or even attend Lake City Public Schools.

“The key to driving this is participation,” Enger said.

Enger said he’s reached out to St. John’s Lutheran School to let them know about the program. He plans to post flyers around town. Clergy have been notified. He may even go door-to-door in areas with a high concentration of potential summer diners.

One program poised to take advantage of the lunches right away is the district’s Tiger Time childcare program.

At the May 20 School Board meeting, Community Education Director Amanda Kvasnicka told the board the staff was looking forward to not spending a half hour microwaving macaroni and cheese every day.

In recent years the district has tried to serve more produce purchased directly from local farmers, but the timing of the school year has made this difficult. With the summer lunch program, he’s hopeful that more fresh, local produce can make it onto student’s trays.

People who want more information about the program can contact Enger at eenger@lake-city.k12.mn.us. There’s also a mobile app called “Summer Eats Minnesota” with information about summer lunch programs. People can also text “summer meals” to 9779 to find about about summer lunch programs near them.

 

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Editor's note: This story was edited to clarify that the district qualified for the program based on the percentage of free and reduced lunch students in a portion of the district, not the entire district.

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