Successful summer lunch program wraps up

Shanon Pittman, Flatrock-Hawcreek Food Service Director, is delighted at the response that the school’s Summer Feeding Program received this year.

The program, which provided free meals to families in the community, wrapped up on June 28th this year. The program is funded through a USDA grant and allows the cafeteria to extend its food service to the summer months. The cafeteria becomes a hub of families and school friends catching up about their summer during these mealtimes, all while providing healthy meals to our community.

“Summer feeding is my favorite, and at this time, we may only be able to continue the program for 3 more summers," Pittman said.

"As our free/reduced percentage decreases, we will no longer be eligible through the USDA to provide this program. We believe it is a great benefit to all households in our community regardless of income, and it also allows younger children to gain some independence as they meet up with friends for lunch. Decreasing free/reduced percentages isn’t a bad thing, it means we have more families employed, so we will eagerly provide the Summer Feeding Program as long as we possibly can.”

The food service program served 1,971 meals this summer, with the majority of those coming at lunch. The Summer Feeding Program also served breakfast, snacks at library storytimes, and provides food service to the Community Center of Hope.

The atmosphere is different from a typical school lunch, and it allows the food service staff to try new ideas and experiment with different menu items. If successful, those can get moved to the school lunch menu, giving students more variety in the school lunch menu.

“We were excited to try some new items like breaded cheesesticks, and loaded pasta bar with our students, and ask feedback on what they would like to see on the menu," Pittman said.

"We are happy to say that the breaded cheesesticks have earned the right to a student taste test once school is in session, and the pasta bar will be featured on the high school side a few times this year. I would love to also offer to the elementary, but fear it would slow the lines down too much, and they wouldn’t have enough time to eat,” said Pittman.

Pittman is also proud of the cafeteria staff, who managed the quick transition from school-year food service to the Summer Feeding Program smoothly.

“My summer staff work extremely hard to tie up loose ends from the end of school, while jumping head first into the Summer Feeding Program, and I never heard a single complaint. I couldn’t have asked for a better crew this year, and appreciate their dedication to feeding our community healthy meals.”