Summer feeding program serves 20,000 meals to kids

The Chattooga County School Nutrition Program has continued their USDA Summer Feeding Program over the past two months.

School officials commented that currently they are serving free lunches five days a week at 27 separate locations across Chattooga County. The program has proven to be far more useful and successful than ever expected with an average of 550 children under the age of 18 being served on a daily basis.

Chattooga County remains a Tier 1 county with over 76% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch during the school year. The USDA Summer Feeding Program picks up during the summer months to ensure that those students are not forgotten during the 10 weeks of summer when school meals are unavailable. This program is invaluable to those it serves and bridges a vast nutritional gap that can occur during the summer months.

The program began close to ten years ago by simply feeding the students attending summer school. Nutritional Director Phyllis Oliver realized that there were other kids in the County that needed the meals and found a way to make it happen.

The Summer Feeding Program has expanded every year and now serves over 20,000 meals a summer. The meals are prepared at Leroy Massey Elementary School. With two delivery vans and a bus the meals are then distributed to the 27 feeding locations. The bus doubles as a cafeteria at some locations where there is no park, church or structure for the kids to eat in. The Program serves the entire County including the Trion School District.

For a full list of meal times and locations or more information or to get involved, contact the Chattooga County Superintendents Office at 706-857-3447.