Summer food program begins Monday
Published 10:58 am Thursday, June 1, 2017
While school ending for the summer may be a relief for some students, others worry because a steady source of food is gone.
To help with that, the Ironton-Lawrence County Area Community Action Organization is stepping up to help with a summer food program for kids, ages 1-18. It is open to students over 18 if they are attending an educational program and they have a disability.
There will be 13 locations for children throughout Lawrence County serving food from June 5 to Aug. 11.
“This program exists to provide children in need the same meals they would receive during the school year,” explained Jonathan Abner, the youth coordinator for the CAO, adding there is a lot of need in Lawrence County due to the economy and many of the children already receive free or reduced lunch during the school year. “When school is out, sometimes they don’t receive that meal.”
Abner said the program served 12,000 meals during 10 weeks last summer and expects numbers this summer to be about the same.
All the meals are similar to the lunch the kids would get at school.
“It’s a similar menu,” Abner said. “So it’s foods kids are used to getting.”
All the locations will serve lunch and Ironton Middle School will be the only location to serve breakfast.
The kids will also be able to get a pack of food for the weekend when the locations aren’t open.
“The weekend meal pack is a program that is basically eight meals they will receive every Friday,” Abner said. “The food is shelf stable, it is ready to eat.”
The money for that program came from the Governor’s Office Faith-Based Community Initiative.
The only day the program will not be open this summer is the July 4th holiday.
For more information, call 740-532-3140.