Each year, as the school year comes to a close, four school kitchens gear up for Auburn School District’s Summer Food Service Program, which offers free meals to children ages one through 18 from June-August. A variety of hot and cold lunches are offered daily and includes entrée, cold milk, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Every weekday morning, Child Nutrition Services (CNS) staff will be preparing thousands of lunches to deliver to 40+ sites throughout Auburn, Algona and Pacific. A full list of sites and times of service is coming soon for 2012.
A great deal of time and effort goes into the planning of this program. The CNS staff plans a nutritious, well-balanced meal for each child every day. They are responsible for ensuring that hot entrées stay hot and cold entrées stay cold during transport; serving the meals to children at every site; recording the number of meals served; ordering food; creating menus; and packing out waste at each site after lunch is over. The summer staff is to be commended for their hard work and dedication. It isn’t an easy job, but they work hard and do a wonderful job. It is a great program for the children of our area.
Last year, over 80,000 meals were served during the two-month program. This year, CNS expects to serve even more children. Each year CNS looks at the sites to ensure that they are meeting the needs of those children in areas having the most need for the program. All meals are free and no registration is required.
For more information or questions, please e-mail Carol Barker at cjbarker@auburn.wednet.edu.
