Lakota students in need to get meals on wheels this summer

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Lakota Schools students who were eligible for free and reduced school meals during the 2015-2016 school year also qualify to participate in the school system’s just-expanded summer lunch program.

Also, students younger than 18 who are part of households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) benefits, or benefits under the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) are automatically eligible to receive free meals.

Modified Lakota school buses will be distributing free lunches — starting Monday, May 23 — at the following locations from Mondays through Fridays during summer break:

Note: The program will not deliver lunches on three days during summer break: Memorial Day (May 30); July 4; and Monday, Aug. 15, which is the day before classes begin for the new Lakota school year.

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Take a tour of the modified Lakota school bus that will be providing thousands of lunches to children in need this summer

Hunger doesn’t take a summer break.

Starting Monday, Lakota Local Schools officials — for the first time — are bringing free lunches to students in need who were fed during the school year under the district’s free and reduced meal program.

Two converted school buses will transport lunches — including hot food and beverages — to an estimated 3,500 Lakota students from low-income families.

Lakota food service officials estimate the mobile free lunch program will hand out more than 200,000 meals during the 58 days schools will be closed during the summer.

“There is absolutely a need for this,” said Chris Burkhardt, director of child nutrition for the 16,500-student Lakota district, which is the second largest in Southwest Ohio and eighth largest in the state.

In many low-income families, both parents work and are not around during the lunch hours to provide food for youngsters and teens, Burkhardt said.

The $147,000 program, which is fully funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will fill the mid-day food gap that often occurs among the more than 3,500 families that use federally subsidized school meals during the school year.

“That is the beauty of this. The families have already shown they have qualified for this program during the school year,” Burkhardt said. “So all we have to do is show up and all they have to do is eat.”

Burkhardt tracked the neighborhoods where most of the students eligible for food subsidies live to determine the seven daily stops the specially designed school buses will stop to distribute lunch.

A second bus will accompany the food bus so students will have seats and shelter to eat their lunches.

The new mobility aspect of Lakota’s summer meal program is the latest reflection of the district’s trend toward more students coming from low-income families.

Since the 2008-2009 school year, when 2,647 students participated in the free and reduced school meal program, school officials have seen more than a 29 percent increase in such students to this school year’s total of 3,417.

Lauren Boettcher, spokeswoman for Lakota Schools, says “research shows that children need adequate nutrition to flourish, and to learn, and we want them to have the same opportunities for nutrition and wellness over the summer.”

“Lakota Local Schools is proud to be part of this partnership, working with the Faith Alliance and the Butler County Educational Service Center to provide the summer food program. It is a great collaboration, which addresses the increasing needs in our community. Because the program provides meals to all eligible children, we know it is reaching those most in need,” Boettcher said.

Taking the food to where students live is “very cutting edge,” said Sue Mahlock, director of outreach for the local Faith Alliance of churches and other organizations serving Liberty and West Chester townships.

“This is a brand new version of the summer food program and not very many school districts anywhere are doing this,” she said.

The Faith Alliance members will provide adult volunteers to be at each of the seven lunch sites to assist participants and answer questions.

Burkhardt, who was honored in March as one of five national school nutrition leaders by the National School Nutrition Association, said students will be surveyed at the end of summer break for their thoughts about the program. That information will go into the decision-making process when district officials are considering whether to continue the program during the summer of 2017.

Burkhardt has pioneered outreach food programs beyond Lakota’s 22 schools into the broader community.

He serves on the board for Reach Out Lakota and has leveraged his relationships with food distributors to dramatically increase the availability of fruits and vegetables to families served by the food pantry.

Burkhardt has also created an application process so low-income families whose children are eligible for free and reduced school meals can get nutrition education or special dietary assistance through Reach Out Lakota.

And he has testified before U.S. Congressional Committees adding his expertise to federal policies on school food programs.

“We are looking for where we can make the most impact. We know that nutrition is important and there may be 3,500 student who aren’t getting lunches,” he says.

“And we know that nutrition is important all year, not just when students are in school.”