Summer Lunch Program expands

Siloam Springs School District's summer meal program opened two new mobile locations with the hopes of making the free lunches more accessible.

In addition to daily lunches and limited breakfasts at Allen Elementary School, sack lunches are being served three days a week in the picnic pavilion at Bob Henry Park and the gazebo at Spring Valley Apartments, according to Janna Ragland, child nutrition director for the school district.

Students can also pick up a book while getting lunch. The book exchange is sponsored by the Allen Elementary parent teacher organization as a way to boost summer reading.

"We're open to all families," Ragland said. "Go spend a day at the park and don't worry about taking a break for lunch -- we're there."

The federally-funded summer meal program provides free meals to all children under age 18, whether or not they attend Siloam Springs Schools or qualify for free or reduced price meals. This is the third year the summer meal program is in full operation in Siloam Springs, Ragland said.

In 2014 the lunch program served an average of about 180 kids a day but this year the numbers are already peaking at 193, she said. The number of lunches served in the park started low with a weekly average of 17 but increased to 36 by Monday.

"I think more people are hearing about us and knowing we are there," Ragland said. "Everybody is realizing it's not just for low income families."

Ragland said transportation is often the biggest barrier families face that keeps them from participating in the meal program. She hopes the new mobile sites will make it easier for more people to walk to pick up their lunches.

The mobile program is modeled after other districts in Northwest Arkansas. It is important for students because once they walk out the door on the last day of school, some don't know when their next meal is going to be, Ragland said. Sixty-one percent of Siloam Springs students receive free and reduced lunches, up from between 57 and 58 percent last year.

During the school year, many families only have to provide one meal a day for their children but that all changes during the summer months, Ragland said.

"We're talking three meals a day during the summer," she said. "Many are on a tight budget already. We want to reach out to all families year round."

The menu at Allen Elementary School and at the two mobile sites will be the same, Ragland said. Servings will be packed up into containers inside the sack lunches, she said. The food is delivered in a vehicle marked with the school district logo and employees wear shirts clearly identifying them, Ragland said.

Lunch is served Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. in the picnic pavilion in Bob Henry Park, and at 12:15 p.m. in the gazebo at Spring Valley Apartments.

Lunches are served at Allen Elementary School from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily until July 31. Breakfast is served from 8 to 9 a.m. on the following Tuesdays and Wednesdays: June 30, July 1, 7, 8, 14 and 15. It will also be served Monday through Friday starting July 20 through 31.