Lewis & Clark Library to serve as a Summer Meal Program Site
June 7, 2018 (Helena, MT)—No Kid Hungry and the Helena Public Schools food service provider, Sodexo, announced last week that Your Lewis & Clark Library will again serve as a Summer Meal Program site beginning June 11th.
Robert Worthy, General Manager of Sodexo explained that the Library as a Summer Meal Program site allows the program to meet the needs of more children in the Helena area who would otherwise go without food during the day. According to Worthy, only about 17% of students in the Helena Public School System that qualify for the Free-and-Reduced Lunch Program participate in the Summer Meal program. Worthy and his staff would like to see more kids participate and they believe the addition of Summer Meal Program sites will help achieve this goal. Last summer, Worthy and his crew served over 25,000 meals to kids 18 and under.
The Summer Meal Program is for all kids under the age of 18. All they need to do is arrive at one of the 7 Summer Meal Program sites and they will receive an entrée, milk, fruits, and veggies. “We understand that for some kids, this will be the only meal they receive in a day and we are proud to be a Summer Meal Program site,” explained Lewis & Clark Library Director, John Finn.
Sodexo will serve lunches at all 7 sites and breakfast at Bryant Elementary. Service will begin Monday, June 11th and run Monday through Friday until August 10th. “We will take July 4-6 off for the 4th of July holiday, but other than that, we will serve lunch every week day until August 10th,” explained Worthy.
The Summer Meal Program sites and times are as follows:
Helena Middle School: 10:40-11:20AM
Skelton Park: 10:45-11:15AM
Barney Park: 11-11:45AM
Memorial Park: 11AM-12:30PM
Lewis & Clark Library: 11:30AM-12:30PM
Lincoln Park: 11:45AM-12:15PM
Bryant School: Breakfast 8-8:45AM; Lunch 11-11:45AM
This Summer Food Service Program is a USDA program and supported through the generous funding donations from the Treacy Foundation, MT No Kid Hungry, and the Helena Public Schools. To volunteer or assist with the program, contact Ellen Harris, Prevention Resource Center AmeriCorps VISTA with MT No Kid Hungry at Ellen.Harris@mt.gov or by calling 406-431-4223