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Free summer lunch program helps feed the children

Moraine city program continues through early August

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By Alex Stuckey, Staff Writer 8:46 PM Thursday, July 1, 2010

MORAINE — Quincy Wyatt has been bringing his grandsons Kyle, 10, and Eric, 15, to the Moraine Gerhardt Civic Center’s free summer lunch program for seven years to help stretch the family’s food budget.

“(The program) helps us save money,” Wyatt said. “It’s very handy.”

The Civic Center’s free lunch program is part of the Summer Food Service Program, which offers free meals to children younger than the age of 18 whose guardians need help feeding them, said Heather Combs. Combs is the school and summer nutrition manager for the Children’s Hunger Alliance, an organization that works to feed about 500,000 children in Ohio.

The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Department of Education, Combs said.

She said sponsor sites are chosen because 50 percent of children in the area are eligible for the meals based on family income. As part of the program, sponsors are reimbursed for all food expenses.

In 2009, the eight Montgomery County sponsors were reimbursed $1.1 million by the USDA, Combs said. This summer, the county has 12 sponsors with 122 sites. The Civic Center is one of six sponsor sites in Moraine that offer up to two free meals a day during the summer. The other Moraine sites are C.F. Holliday Elementary School, Pinnacle Park, Wax Park, Frank Nicholas Elementary School and Greenmont Oak Park Church.

The six Moraine sites serve 220 meals per day, which consist of milk, sandwiches, fruit, vegetables and one fun item such as chips, said Julie Hoffman, the center’s superintendant. Moraine Parks and Recreation has been a program sponsor for seven years.

The program is part of the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program, which served 889,146 children daily in Ohio during the 2009-2010 school year, according to the Food Research and Action Center.

Moraine Mayor Bob Rosencranz said the program was important for area children’s education.

“If the mind cannot remain focused because it is hungry, how can the children learn?” Rosencranz said. Moraine officials and the Children’s Hunger Alliance are working to add more site locations in the future to help children who lack transportation.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2085 or astuckey@DaytonDailyNews.com.