School's out for the summer, but the kitchens are not, thanks to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
About 30 million children participate in USDA breakfast and lunch programs throughout the year, and summer vacation can present a major barrier for consistently access to healthy meals. To help bridge that gap, the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service works with states and other partners to offer free breakfast and lunch for kids throughout the summer.
With the Summer Nutrition Program, or SUN for short, participating school districts are serving free meals to any kids aged 18 or under who show up – regardless of where they live or what school district they belong to.
"It could be kiddos that are vacationing in town that happen to be at the pool and come over for lunch," said Elena Hildreth, executive director of student nutrition for the Yuma Union High School District. "We have banners up on the fences by the school. Any child under the age of 18 – 18 and under.”
YUHSD has regularly partnered with the USDA and Arizona Department of Education to offer SUN meals each summer, and during her tenure as nutrition director, Hildreth's seen a lot of families benefit from the program.
“Last summer, I actually worked at Yuma (High) most of the summer," she said. "You do see a lot of communities, but it depends on the campus. You know, Kofa will get some from the community. San Luis will. Cibola and Yuma probably get the lion's share of kiddos that are in the neighborhood that come over with mom and dad or the babysitter or older sibling that are either at the pool or at the parks.
"So it is great. They sit and they have lunch on campus or breakfast on campus and relax. They kind of have fun. It's kind of lunch out.”
Since Yuma's considered an area of need for SUN Meals, the yearly application process is an easy, seamless one for districts like YUHSD according to Hildreth.
In Yuma County, YUHSD is joined by the Crane School District, Somerton School District and Yuma District One in offering SUN Meals. To benefit, children will need to eat their meals on-site at the participating locations.
In La Paz County, Wallace Elementary from the Parker Unified School District is the sole site serving SUN Meals.
The locations for each district's sites are as follows:
(Yuma)
Crane Elementary School District
Breakfast is served from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Lunch is served from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Gary Knox Elementary - 2926 S. 21st Drive
- H.L. Suverkrup Elementary - 1590 S. Avenue C
- Pueblo Elementary - 2803 W. 20th Street
- Salida Del Sol Elementary - 910 S. Avenue C
- Valley Horizon Elementary - 4501 W. 20th Street
Yuma School District One
June 2 through July 18 (closed on July 4)
Breakfast is served from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Main Cafeteria (by Roosevelt Elementary and Fourth Avenue Junior High) - 450 W. 5th Street
- Castle Dome Middle School - 2353 Otondo Drive
- C.W. McGraw Elementary - 2345 S. Arizona Avenue
- O.C. Johnson Elementary - 1201 W. 12th Street
- Palmcroft Elementary- 901 W. Palmcroft Drive
Yuma Union High School District
Dates and times vary by site. Some sites may have added dates.
Most current chart as of article publication:
(South Yuma County)
Somerton School District
Dates and times vary by site.
- Cocopah Community Center - 14251 S. Centre Avenue
June 9 - July 18. Breakfast: 8 a.m. - 9 a.m. Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Desert Sonora Elementary - 301 N. Carlisle Avenue
May 27 - June 13. Breakfast: 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. Lunch: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Encanto Learning Center - 400 N. Cesar Chavez Avenue
May 27 - June 19. Breakfast: 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. Lunch: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Somerton Middle School - 1011 N. Somerton Avenue
May 27 to June 25. Breakfast: 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. Lunch: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Tierra Del Sol Elementary - 1002 S. Somerton Ave.
May 27 - July 3. Breakfast: 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. Lunch: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Yuma County Housing Department - 2050 W. Main Street, Suite 88
June 9 - June 27. Lunch: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
(La Paz)
Parker Unified School District
June 2 - June 27
Breakfast is served from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Wallace Elementary - 1201 W 16th Street (at the Wallace Dome)
For more information on serving sites throughout Arizona, a map can be found here.
Extra assistance is also available to families through the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program, also known as Summer-EBT or SUN Bucks. It supplements summer meal programs by providing grocery-buying benefits to low-income families with school-aged children who lose access to free or reduced-price school meals through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program when schools are closed for the summer.
Most qualifying children will automatically receive SUN Bucks in the form of a one-time $120 benefit on a card. Eligible families that haven't yet received the benefit, however, can still apply by Aug. 5. For additional information, visit the ADE page on the program here.
As YUHSD's Elena Hildreth said, "School's out and kids still need to eat." She encourages all students and children to take advantage.
