“This year, the district is providing nine of the 15 distribution sites for the Summer Food Program to assist our students with nutritional opportunities, which can be difficult when school is closed,” said Superintendent Bob Hill. “While we have worked with the Second Harvest Food Bank piloting projects in the past, this year, the number of locations have been expanded and safety procedures have been put in place to allow for social distancing.”
These meals, which include five breakfast and five lunches per week, will be distributed as follows:
Mondays from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at Fulton Elementary School, 631 S. Yellow Springs St.; Hayward Middle School, 1700 Clifton Ave.; Lagonda Elementary School, 500 E. McCreight Ave.; and Lincoln Elementary School, 1500 Tibbetts Ave.
Tuesdays from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at Horace Mann Elementary, 521 Mt. Joy St.; Snyder Park Elementary, 1600 Maiden Lane; and Warder Park Elementary School, 2820 Hillside Ave.
Wednesdays from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at Springfield High School, 701 E. Home Road.
“The Springfield City School District is thankful for the ongoing community partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank,” Hill said. “As a district, we encourage all of our students to participate in this valuable program.”
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Two other schools have also partnered with the Food Bank, including Clark-Shawnee Local Schools from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays at Clark Pre School, 1500 W. Jefferson St., and the Tecumseh Local Schools from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays at New Carlisle Elementary School, 1203 Kennison Ave.
Clark-Shawnee Superintendent Brian Kuhn said they will “continue to partner with Second Harvest Food Bank to provide grocery kits to families in need.”
Greenon Local Schools will not be serving summer meals, but are connecting families with local resources, according to Superintendent Brad Silvus. Northeastern Local Schools also does not offer a summer meal service, according to Superintendent John Kronour.
Three Champaign County school districts will also be offering summer meals to students, at least through June.
Urbana City Schools will have a Summer Feed Program through Aug. 7 for children up to age 18, according to Superintendent Charles Thiel. The grab-and-go bags can be picked up Monday through Friday.
Meals can be picked up daily from 10:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. at Rolling Hills, 10:50 a.m. to 10:55 a.m. at Sunset Terrace, 11:10 a.m. to 11:25 a.m. at South Elementary, 11:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at Barbara Howell Park on Market Street, 11:50 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. at Gwynne Village Apartments, 12:10 p.m. to 12:25 p.m. at North Elementary, and 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Urbana High School.
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“This program is reimbursed by the federal government and is similar to the one we have had the past 10 years or so. The only differences are there are more locations this year and we will be distributing grab and go bags instead of hot meals that had to be consumed on site,” Thiel said.
Mechanicsburg Exempted Village Schools and Triad Local Schools are both offering meals throughout June but are working on plans to offer them the rest of the summer.
Mechanicsburg will offer a week’s worth of breakfast and lunch on every Tuesday in June, according to Superintendent Danielle Prohaska.
Prohaska said weekly donations from the local food pantry and Reiter Dairy in Springfield have been a huge help for them to provide supplemental meal items to families.
The district has yet to decide if the meal service will continue in July, Prohaska said.
Triad is also providing meals through June from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays at the high school, according to Superintendent Vickie Hoffman.
“Starting in July, there will be summer meals provided by the same community group that did it last year. They are still finalizing plans but intend to feed students from July 1 until school starts again,” Hoffman said.
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