June 16, 2009
Brattleboro Reformer

More kids expected for free lunches
Written by Howard Weiss-Tisman

BRATTLEBORO -- As the final days of the school year wind down, directors of summer lunch programs are preparing for what they say will be a very busy season.

But while federally funded programs in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls continue to grow, the more rural areas of Windham County, and all of Vermont, remain largely unserved by the free summer meals.

The number of students receiving free and reduced lunches in local schools went up this year, and with the economy continuing to sputter along, administrators of summer lunch programs expect to serve more children this summer.

"We grow ever year, and if you look at the kids who receive free and reduced meals in the schools, that number went up this year too," said Meg Kluge, co-director of the Brattleboro meals program, which is run through the Brattleboro Housing Authority. "Given the state of the economy, we expect to serve even more meals this year."

The BHA program is one of the largest in the state.

Last year, more than 15,500 meals were served and this year children will be served at 14 different sites over the course of the summer.

Since more than 50 percent of the school district's students are eligible to receive free and reduced meals during the school year, any child who shows up for a meal during the summer is served, under federal guidelines.

The food will be prepared in the cafeteria at Brattleboro Union High School and then delivered to the different sites around town.

The Brattleboro program starts June 29 and runs through Aug. 28.

Sarah Kunz, nutrition and policy specialist with the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger, said the Brattleboro program has become a model for the rest of the state.

The thousands of free meals that will be served in Brattleboro this summer will go a long way in helping families bridge the gap between school years, but for children who don't come into town, and who rely on free and reduced meals, there are not as many options.

Across Vermont, for every five children who receive free or reduced meals while school is in session, only one receives a meal in the summer.

In Windham County, the Windham Central and Windham Southwest supervisory unions are not hosting any federally funded programs for children in the West and Deerfield River Valleys.

Small, rural towns do not have the money in their budgets to finance lunch programs, without even considering the transportation issues involved in reaching families in rural areas.

Foundations have fewer resources and school budgets are also being squeezed, forcing the closing of some summer schools programs where children receive academic and nutritional support.

Kunz said it is often the low-income children who need the nutritional boost and she points to studies that show a connection between hunger and low academic achievement.

"When schools close in June it can be a hard time for families and kids who rely on the free lunches all year," Kunz said. "They are losing a consistent source of nutrition and the summer lunch program can fill that gap."

The number of people enrolled in Vermont's food stamp program, now known as 3SquaresVT, has gone up in the current economic downturn and Kunz said summer programs all over the state will see a spike in activity.

"The data tell us that families are struggling," she said. "People are having their hours reduced and are losing their jobs. Families are trying to patch together as many resources as they can. We expect summer lunch programs to see an increase in the number of kids they serve."

Bellows Falls faced a number of challenges last year transporting food from the Westminster Center School, where it was prepared.

This year, the district is preparing and serving its summer meals at the Bellows Falls Central School after trying to get the food to the Rockingham Recreation Area where it was served last year.

Windham Northeast Superintendent Johanna Harpster said she hopes more children, in the end, are served at the school, which is close to many homes downtown.

Rockingham Recreation Director Brad Weeks is trying to organize bus service to and from the rec area to the school for lunch time.

Regardless of how the weather affects interest in camp and pool activities, Weeks expects there to be a fair amount of hungry children this year.

"I think it a good change," he said about moving the food service to the Central School. "With the recession we're in, I think there will be more of a need and more people will want to take advantage. We're going to have to make some changes but we're willing to do that."

Reproduced with permission from the Brattleboro Reformer.

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