Kids eat for free off parish

All students under 18 eligible for free lunches

Learning doesn’t end when school gets out, and now those free meals won’t have to either.

For the 19th straight year, the parish will take part in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program. All students under the age of 18 are automatically eligible for a free lunch each day at either St. Rose Elementary, E.J. Landry Alternative Center or Luling Elementary School. Even those students over the age of 18 that have disabilities qualify for the free meal.

Foods such as hot dogs, fries, salads, red beans and rice, lasagna and corn are just some of the things that will be on the menu at the schools from June 9 to July 17.

Vegetables and milk will also be served with all meals.

‘We provide nutritionally balanced meals for children,’ Maurya Glaude, director of the department of community services, said. ‘This helps parents who are employed during the summer and can’t provide those meals everyday.’

No child or teenager living in the parish can be turned away from the program, whether their parents make $20,000 a year or $120,000. There is no registration and all those students have to do is show up by either being dropped off at one of the three schools or getting bused to the location.

Pick-up spots will be located in Des Allemands, Paradis, Hwy. 90, Ama, Luling, Hwy. 18, Hahnville and Killona.

Last year, the total cost of the program was $52,460, with 70 percent of that total being paid by the parish. $12,253 of that was paid to the school board for the operations costs for buses and drivers, while $18,433.24 went towards salaries for the school cooks and monitors.

Overall, 94,640,263 free meals were served in Louisiana in 2007, with 6,225 of those being served inside the parish.

The program was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure that children in lower-income areas could continue to receive nutritious meals during the summer.  The program is the single largest federal resource available for local sponsors who want to combine a feeding program with a summer activity program.