Expansion of summer meals program bridges gap for R-1 students

In past years, students were able to get free meals during summer school with the Poplar Bluff R-I School District. This year, the program has expanded.

Through this, the district is offering free lunch for anybody under the age of 18 at three locations around town along with breakfast at one. The program started July 1 and will run through Aug. 2.

Dixie Harden, food service director with the district, applied for a grant through No Kid Hungry Missouri to purchase equipment in order to offer meals throughout July. The $5,000 grant went toward food-storage units, picnic tables and canopies for the program.

“The grant was basically to help you extend your summer meal program to other sites throughout the community,” she said. “The grant basically covers the purchase of anything you might need to do that. We purchased what’s called cambroes. They help keep food hot or cold and the ones we purchased were on rollers since we have to transport the food.”

Harden said the picnic tables are portable and were important since one of the sites doesn’t offer seating. This way the students have somewhere to sit during their meal. Along the same line, she said the canopies are able to be moved and can be set up to help protect students from the sun and the heat. She said this year every location they’re using offers shade already, but the canopies could be used in the future if another site doesn’t.

For breakfast, it can be found at Wheatley School from 8:15-8:45 a.m. Meanwhile, lunch is at True Believers Missionary Baptist Church from 11-11:30 a.m., Wheatley School from noon-12:30 and Poplar Bluff Head Start from 1-1:30 p.m.

Funding for the meals comes from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Harden said they simply extended the serving days and added three additional sites to the program.

Harden said doing breakfast at Wheatley School is currently acting like a pilot program in order to gage response. However, she’s hoping to be able to offer it at more locations in coming years.

Harden said the meals being provided are similar to those that are available during the school year — just with fewer options each day. For example, lunch has included lunch meat sandwiches or hamburgers. She said they try to include fresh fruit or vegetables with each meal.

Extending the program came from concern about students getting enough to eat over the summer. According to the district report card by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 72.1% of Poplar Bluff’s students are eligible for free and reduced lunch compared to 50.7% for the state as a whole.

“I’m passionate about helping kids and we have a high percentage of free and reduced (lunch) students in Poplar Bluff,” Harden said. “A lot of students come from homes that have food insecurities and a lot of those kids come to summer school, but after summer school’s over where do they eat for the month of July and the first part of August until school starts? We wanted to be able to provide them with some kind of food during those times.”

Harden said there’s been a good response at the Wheatley location, but things have been slower at the other locations. At True Believers, she said, there were several days when they didn’t feed any students and the highest was four. Meanwhile, at the Head Start the most she’s seen on any given day was between seven and nine.

“I’ve spoken with a couple other districts about where they had extended their program out to new sites and they told me the first year it usually doesn’t go real well at all the sites,” she said. “Once, I know it’ll take a year, it catches on the participation picks up. Once the parents realize ‘oh, that’s going to be there every summer.’”

Going forward, Harden said she’s looking at ways to continue to extend the program next year by looking at different sites, more sites and extending the number of locations where breakfast is being offered. She said she’s met with the housing authority and toured a couple other potential locations where they can go into the community more and find grassy areas to set up.

Harden said students don’t need to bring anything to get a meal. They simply need to come to one of the locations at the designated time.