Summertime lunches

Some come for the teriyaki, others for the friends, and then there are those needing a break from preparing meals. Each year thousands take advantage of the free summer lunches offered every weekday by the Monroe School District.

District spokesperson Tamara Krache said 8,500 youth were served between June and August last year, and even more are expected this summer.

The program is offered to any member of the public under the age of 18, Krache said, with no questions asked or documents required.

“If you are a kid, we are going to feed you,” she said.

Erika Vargas came to the season’s first midday meal last Wednesday at Frank Wagner Elementary with her mother, siblings and cousins. Turkey sandwiches were on the menu. The group of six made it to the cafeteria around the noon start time. Vargas said it is the third consecutive year she has participated in the program. Even though they have enough at home, the lunches give the family an activity to do together before playing on the playground or somewhere outside while school is out, she said, and they’re healthy.

If they notice something they like on the menu ahead of time, the family will sometimes make getting to the cafeteria a priority that day, Vargas said. For her brother, Edgar, it’s the pizza. Her cousin Mario Granados said it’s the teriyaki for him. The family does not go every day, but tries to as much as possible, she said.

Krache said the cost of providing meals is reimbursed by the USDA. The local program follows the agency’s meal pattern nutritional standards. According to the USDA, more than 200 million meals will be served this summer throughout the U.S.

The school district has offered the program every summer since 2005, Krache said, because many of the community’s families depend on their school as a regular meal source throughout the school year. That need doesn’t go away during the summer, she said.

Roughly 14 percent of households — 15.3 million children nationwide — live in food-insecure homes, according to the USDA. About 22.1 million are fed through the agency’s National School Lunch Program, which offers free or reduced school meals. Only about one in six of those children are fed through the USDA’s summer programs, according to the agency.

Sarah Yulle came with her three kids, Johnathan, Cheyanne and Jocelyn. It was their first time. She said she had looked into the meals last year, but never made it out.

Yulle said she wanted her children to have the chance to socialize.

“That is the goal for me,” she said.

Following their first experience, Yulle said she plans on coming about twice each week. Her friend, Twila Koonan, sat next to her that day, and also brought a big group. Some were her own children, and some she was babysitting, which is often a role of hers during the summer months.

“It really improves my day,” she said.

Koonan said she tries to make it to the meals every day. With five children, and sometimes up to 10 in tow, that can be many mouths to make sure are always fed.

“We don’t live far away,” Koonan said. “Sometimes we walk and bring half the neighborhood.”

Yulle’s 7-year-old, Jocelyn Yulle, said she liked being able to come last Tuesday and see her friends. She also doesn’t get turkey sandwiches often, and was happy with the lunch selection.

Koonan’s 8-year-old, Elise Koonan, said she is glad her mom has more time and energy to spend with her and her siblings, instead of making lunches.

Each year the school district invites community partners to join in the daily event. Krache said this year the Monroe and Sky Valley YMCA, Monroe Public Library, Monroe Boys and Girls Clubs, as well as local churches, law enforcement and emergency response agencies, will all have booths or plan activities for those who come to the lunches each week.

For her part, MSD Learning Assistance Program educator Bethany Harmon gathered up some extra materials from her colleagues. They all share the opinion that books are more often read when kids can easily access them, she said.

Those resources disappear when their libraries close over the summer.

Harmon said she is “just trying to get books into kids’ hands.” Each day a free library will be open at the far end of the cafeteria, for people to come and take some reading material, which they can chose to return or hold onto, she said.

Anyone can donate by bringing their extra-gently used hard copies to the school during the lunch hour, which is from noon to 12:45 p.m. Monday through Friday, Harmon said.