Breakfast too, for Somerville youth this summer
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Lunch is served, free of charge this summer, to grateful kids throughout Somerville.

By Elizabeth Sheeran

Parents know it doesn’t get any easier to put food on the table just because kids are out of school for the summer. And summer vacation presents new challenges for families who count on the school lunch program to help ensure that their growing boys and girls are eating a well-balanced diet.

But thanks to a federally funded program, the Somerville Schools Food Services department is serving free weekday meals to anyone under the age of 19, at locations all around Somerville, throughout the summer.

“There’s no reason for anyone to not be eating lunch on a Monday to Friday in the summer,” said Joe Pinto, youth services director at the YMCA on Highland Avenue, which was one of the spots where students could find a free lunch starting this week, along with Foss Park and Trum Field.

– Photos by Bobbie Toner

By Monday, July 2, refrigerated trucks will be serving free lunches each weekday at ten locations along a regular route beginning at 10 a.m. at Senator Corbett Park. Additional stops will be at Lexington Avenue Playground at 10:15, Trum Field at 10:30, Hodgkins at 10:45, Mystic Housing at 11:55, the YMCA at noon, Dilboy Pool at 12:15, Foss Park at 12:30, the Bayshore Drive Boat House at 1 p.m., and Albion Park at 1:30. Breakfast is served at Foss Park at 9:30 and the Powderhouse Park Kidstop at 9:45.

Each stop is scheduled for 15 to 30 minutes, and all kids and teens have to do is show up. No identification is required and parents or guardians don’t have to be present. Young people get a breakfast or lunch that includes all four food groups, and the city is reimbursed for each meal from funds administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Somerville Food Services Director Jeanne Irwin said her department served close to 100,000 meals last summer, and the need keeps growing as the recession lingers on. Two thirds of Somerville students now qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, and that number is up five percentage points since 2007. In other words, one in 20 Somerville kids didn’t need that help just five years ago, but needs it now.

The food services department is using grant money to get the word out about the summer meals program, reaching out to parents and kids during the school year, but also publicizing it around the city at special events and through channels like full-size ads at bus stops.

“Hopefully, if someone needs it, they’re going to notice it somewhere,” said Irwin, who also hopes the community will help spread the word to anyone who might not be aware the meals are available.

She said a lot of promotional effort this year is targeted at 13 to 18 year-olds, who still need good nutrition, but aren’t showing up for the summer meals program as much as younger kids. As an added incentive, every meal this year will come with a ticket for a weekly raffle to win an iPod. And Irwin said the “no questions asked” policy is especially important for older kids, particularly if they’re undocumented.

Jennie Bass of Project Bread, which helps administer the summer meals program in Massachusetts, said 2.5 million free meals get served every summer statewide, but the program is still underutilized, so it’s important to remove any barriers that can keep hungry kids from getting the healthy food they need.

“It’s anonymous, which is really important to many families,” said Bass. “It means that every child who comes to get a free meal, can get a free meal.”

More information, in multiple languages, is at 1-800-645-8333, or www.projectbread.org/summermeals.