Utah Food Bank, school districts offering free meals for kids this summer

WEST JORDAN, Utah — As schools let out, Utah children will still have a place to eat during the summer months.

The Jordan School District is once again offering a free Summer Food Service Program by participating in the USDA's Seamless Summer Option.

"We have a dietician on our office who goes and analyzes everything. So we make sure all the food components, fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, milk, everything is being served," said Katie Bastian, the district's nutrition services director.

The program kicked off on Monday and will go through August 4. Excluding holidays on June 19, July 4 and July 24, free breakfast and lunch will be offered at five different sites across the district for kids 18 years old and younger.

Those five sites include:

• Columbia Elementary, 3505 W 7800 S, West Jordan
• Heartland Elementary, 1451 W 7000 S, West Jordan
• Majestic Elementary, 7430 S Redwood Road, West Jordan
• Oquirrh Elementary, 7165 S Paddington Road, West Jordan
• South Valley School, 8400 S Redwood Road, West Jordan

"The schools where we offer it are sites that qualify because their population is over 50% free and reduced students, so there's obviously a need in the areas," said Bastian.
Last summer, the district served a little more than 20,000 lunches and 3,400 breakfasts at their five summer meal sites.

Becky Ramage was at Columbia Elementary School in West Jordan on Tuesday with her three kids and her friend.

"During summertime, it gets expensive to feed kids," said Ramage.

She says she has been utilizing free summer meal programs for her kids and the ones she babysits for about a decade.

"The option of a free meal is extremely important because it financially saves us," said Ramage.

The Utah Food Bank is also doing what they can to help.

Ginette Bott, the president and CEO of the Utah Food Bank, says they are responsible for 58 sites across the state, with the goal of providing 176,000 meals for Utah kids this summer.

In collaboration with school districts across the state, Bott says there are more than 300 sites providing meals this summer.

These free summer meals consist of breakfast, lunch or supper at different locations in Salt Lake, Utah, Washington, Weber, Davis, Iron, San Juan, and Grand counties.

"We have 289,000 people in the state of Utah that are faced with insecurity and in that number one in nine of those are kids," said Bott.

She says the summer months are generally their busiest time when it comes to the need, but also the slowest when it comes to donations.

FOX 13 News asked how they prepare for that, in order to be able to provide free meals for kids across the Beehive State.

"We've been planning for this for weeks and weeks and I'll say probably at least eight weeks solid because we have to confirm locations, we have to align vehicles," said Bott.

Parents like Rampage enjoy the program.

"It's an opportunity to get the kids out of their house and something good to eat and some exercise in, I think it's a great program," said Ramage.

For a complete list of resources in your area you can text "FOOD" to 304-304. You can also visit their website HERE.

In addition, the Salt Lake City School District gives the following list of sites and dates for free school lunches:

Community Park Sites and SLC Main Library

Summer School Sites (open to the public)

The following notes were also included:

• All sites will be closed on Monday, June 19 (in honor of the Juneteenth holiday), Tuesday, July 4 (Independence Day), and Monday, July 24, 2023 (Pioneer Day).
• All school sites will be open Friday on June 23, July 7, and July 28 (to accommodate the holidays).
• * Mary W. Jackson Elementary will not serve breakfast on June 13-16, July 14, 21, 31, or Aug. 1-11.
• ** Riley Elementary will not serve breakfast on July 14, 21, 31, or Aug. 1-2.

Families in other school districts can check their district's websites or social media pages for information on free lunch programs.