Free breakfast, lunch available to children this summer

With schools out for summer, some students are at risk of going without the meals they otherwise typically receive at school during the academic year.

To fill that gap, many schools in the Corridor participate in the federal Summer Food Service Program, which funds free summer meals for all children on a first-come, first-served basis.

The program is expected to serve more than 200 million free meals this summer at sites across the country, including more than 400 in Iowa, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In Cedar Rapids, a free meal site is scheduled to open Monday at Grant Wood Elementary, 645 26th St. SE. Breakfast will be served from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., and lunch will be available from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Meals will be available there Monday to Friday until June 29.

Additional sites at Cedar Rapids schools will open throughout the summer, according to a school district notice. From June 18 to Aug. 3, meals will be available from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the following sites:

l Grant Elementary, 254 Outlook Dr. SW

l Kenwood Elementary, 3700 E Ave. NE

l Johnson Elementary, 355 18th St. SE

l Taylor Elementary, 720 Seventh Ave. SW

From June 25 to July 18, meals will be available at Roosevelt Middle School, 300 13th St. NW.

Meals are available to all children 18 and younger. Neither their school enrollment status nor their income level should affect their eligibility for free breakfast or lunch.

Additional Summer Food Service Program sites include the Hiawatha Public Library, Marion Public Library, The Dream Center in Iowa City and Tilford Elementary in Vinton.

A complete list of meal sites can be found at fns.usda.gov/summerfoodrocks.

l Comments: (319) 398-8330; molly.duffy@thegazette.com