Serving one of the largest Indiana school districts, Fort Wayne Community Schools launched the Summer Food Service Program for Children (SFSPC) on June 1, an initiative to provide free meals to all children ages 18 and younger.
The program is also available to adults enrolled in a state-approved educational program for the mentally or physically disabled. No paperwork is required upon arrival to receive lunch.
According to Krista Stockman, Fort Wayne Community Schools Public Information Officer, children who attend any school outside of the Fort Wayne Community Schools district and who are homeschooled are also eligible for free meals.
Meals are served Monday through Friday in 41 locations throughout Fort Wayne, with many sites beginning to distribute meals on June 10. According to a press release, the site locations include the Allen County Public Library locations, City of Fort Wayne Parks, and FWCS elementary schools.
Eight FWCS Elementary schools serve microwavable meals, with the rest serving cold sandwiches and sides. Serving times are 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., with the exception of the McMillen Park location which serves meals between 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
Stockman emphasized how site locations were chosen based on convenience for children.
“We look for sites throughout the city where kids may be anyways or that have summer programs,“ Stockman said. “We serve thousands of students every week at our summer sites, so it really is a great benefit. It’s open to all children, so there’s no income requirement. If you happen to be at the library and it’s lunchtime and you want to go in and pick up a lunch, you can do that.”
Lunches are distributed as to-go meals, a change implemented due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This protocol differs from previous years where students had to eat the meals on site.
According to Candice Hagar, Director of Nutrition Services for Fort Wayne Community Schools, the demand for the summer feeding program increased due to COVID-19. Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 breakfasts and 3,000 to 5,000 lunches are prepared daily.
Mitch Sheppard, Deputy Director of Community Outreach for the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department, said there are less park meal distribution sites due to staffing shortages this year. Currently, there are four park meal distribution locations as compared to nine locations in previous years.
“If we were able to hire the staff, we would indeed have the sites open,” Sheppard said. “Regardless of COVID, we had a plan for operating safely at all nine sites. We were just simply not able to staff them.”
Stockman said providing free breakfast and lunches is an important initiative for FWCS, as they are often the only nutritious meal options for children to acquire.
“We know that for many of our students, and for many children in the city, when they go to school and they get free breakfast and free lunch, those are some of the most nutritious meals that they have access to,” Stockman said. “It's really important to us to continue that program through the summer so that kids can just walk down to a nearby school or library branch and get those meals and not have to worry about, do they have food at home? Where are they going to get their meal? There’s a safe location with nutritious meals that hopefully they can get to.”
Hagar emphasized that the summer feeding program is not only a benefit to children, but also provides financial relief for parents of the Fort Wayne community.
Sheppard echoed this sentiment and said the Fort Wayne Community Schools Food Service Program has provided a positive and necessary resource to community members in need of support.
“It’s a wonderful program,” Sheppard said. “I believe it is something that families in vulnerable situations have become accustomed to and are very much in need of. There is never a bad investment in time, money or materials when we are trying to help our children.
The program will continue until August 2nd. Stockman said closing on August 2nd is necessary in order to prepare the food processing center for the 2021-2022 school year, which begins on August 16. FWCS stated 20 sites will not distribute food on July 5.