Published: June 06, 2008 01:01 am      

Free lunch for children

Program offers hot meals to area youth

ASHLAND — There is such a thing as a free lunch, at least during the summer if you’re 18 and younger.

Summer meal programs in northeast Kentucky promise free, nutritious lunches and breakfasts for hungry children.

Coordinated and prepared by local school districts, the programs all offer meals that meet the same nutritional standards as school cafeteria meals.

Locally, the following districts have programs:

Raceland-Worthington independent schools — June 3 through July 18; breakfast 8 to 9 a.m. and lunch 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Raceland-Worthington High School cafeteria.

Boyd County schools — June 9 through July 25; breakfast 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., lunch 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Summit Elementary.

Ashland independent schools — June 2 through Aug. 8; breakfast 8 to 9 a.m., lunch 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Charles Russell Elementary.

Carter County schools — June 16 through July 25, closed July 4; breakfast 8 to 9 a.m., lunch 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., East Carter and West Carter middle schools.

Greenup County — June 9 through Aug. 1; lunch 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Argillite and Greysbranch elementaries, Wurtland and McKell middle schools, WeeCare Daycare and Advance Methodist Church.

The programs offer on-site hot meals, similar to school breakfasts and lunches and meeting the same nutrition standards, said Mary Fritz, food service director in the Boyd County district.

In addition, day camps, vacation Bible schools and other neighborhood gatherings of children are eligible to dispense sandwich lunches, Fritz said.

Boyd’s program served more than 1,000 meals last summer, and Fritz said she hopes for more this year.

The federally funded program is administered through the Food and Nutrition Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

It is open to all children 18 and younger, whether or not they live in the school district where they eat.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.