Summer meals for kids

Children in Orange won't be going hungry this summer thanks to a program operated by the USDA. The Summer Meals for Kids program will enable children to receive free breakfast and lunch during the summer.
The program, being administered by Orange County Public Schools Director of Food Services Jack Noonan, will operate June 8 through August 14 in the Taylor Education and Administration Complex (TEAC) at no cost to the county. Children ages 18 years-old or younger will be able to receive free breakfast and lunch regardless of wealth.
"We are operating an open site meaning there's justice for all," Noonan said.
In order to operate an open site, the site must serve children in geographical areas where 50 percent or more of the local children are eligible for free or reduced price school meals. According to the Virginia Department of Education, as of Oct. 31, 2008, 76.92 percent of students at TEAC, which houses Head Start, the Boys & Girls Club and remedial school, were eligible for free or reduced price lunch.
Open sites are eligible to provide two meals per day for reimbursement. For Orange County, this means breakfast and lunch. Breakfast will be served from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and lunch will be served from 12 to 1 p.m. All meals will follow the same nutritional guidelines as lunches served by schools during the school year.
"We hope to supply a hot meal to those who wouldn't otherwise get [one]," Noonan said. "The menu [will be] a normal school menu using some canned goods and some frozen items."
The county will be reimbursed by the USDA based on the amount of meals served. According to the USDA, sites will be reimbursed between $1.81 and $1.78 for each breakfast meal and between $3.18 and $3.13 for each lunch meal.
"The county is reimbursed by the USDA to run and maintain the program," Noonan said. "It covers labor, utilities, administration, everything."
Noonan said the program will operate with five people, including himself as administrator, a secretary, a clerical person to fill out forms for the reimbursement, a head cook and a second cook, all of whom already work within the school system. Noonan expects to serve between 80 to 100 breakfast meals and 100 to 115 lunch meals.
"We will be catering mainly to the Boys & Girls Club and the child care [located in TEAC] and any needy [child] who can make it," he said.
Previously, according to Boys & Girls Club of Orange Service Director Sheila Donnelly, club members had to bring their lunches from home which led to forgotten, lost and missing lunches.
"We are very excited about this program," she said. "It will be a huge blessing for the club members and their parents to not have to worry about the students getting a nutritious meal. This is going to be meeting a critical need."
While the site hadn't been officially approved for the program yet, Noonan expects the decision to come in within the next week. The paperwork has been sent to the USDA and Noonan has completed his training for the program.
"I'm pretty sure it will be passed," he said.
Noonan hopes to continue the program in the future.
"This will probably be the launch year and we will go from there," he said. "I've done it in two other states and the hardest part is getting it started. From there, it's just maintaining it day to day."
District 2 school board member Donna Waugh-Robinson is excited about the program, she said.
"I am thrilled we can offer our community the USDA Summer Meals for Kids program," she said. "The benefits go well beyond the financial advantages; let's add health, wellness and balanced nutrition to the list. The number of students receiving free or reduced lunch has increased significantly over the past year. The local Love Outreach Food Pantry in Orange serves over 200 families weekly and the list goes on and on. This program gives our community one more opportunity and venue to feed our children."
The Summer Meals for Kids program will operate June 8 through Aug. 14 with no operation June 11-12 and July 2-3. Meals will be provided at the Taylor Education Administration Center cafeteria with breakfast served from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and lunch served 12-1 p.m. A menu for the program is expected to be released soon.