Nine locations around Fort Wayne have Summer Playgrounds, free programs for kids ages five and up that provide summertime activities and free meals to participants.
Some of those sites served breakfast and lunch, but Tuesday, the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department announced all nine locations will begin serving both meals.
In 2015, the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department served over 90,000 free meals. This year, it anticipates they’ll serve 10,000 more. That’s because Hamilton, Lafayette, Lakeside, and Packard sites will start serving breakfast in addition to lunch.
Melissa Hoover of the Community Harvest Food Bank says she works with Fort Wayne’s Parks Department to provide meals year round.
“It’s really exciting to see that they’re going to be able to get breakfast and lunch and from what I understand a snack as well,” she said. “To hear that they were just getting lunch and a snack, we wanted to throw an extra meal in there for them, so we were just happy to accomplish that.”
The Parks Department purchases supplies from Community Harvest Food Bank, but Director Al Moll says it’s a very low cost to the city and sometimes even free.