Free meals available Friday to Cedar Rapids schools’ students and families

CEDAR RAPIDS — Kids on Course University is distributing free meals to students and families in the Cedar Rapids Community School District at 18 stations Friday from 10 a.m. to noon, since district summer school programs have remained closed this week after a cybersecurity breach.

Kids on Course University, a summer school program through the Cedar Rapids Community School District in partnership with the Zach Johnson Foundation, is one of the largest summer school programs in Iowa, offering learning programs at four sites for more than 750 students from Cedar Rapids elementary schools.

Another 250 students are served through Kids on Course Scholar Camp, Kids on Course Freshman Academy, Kids on Course Credit Recovery and are provided breakfast and lunch — around 1,400 meals a day — and meals on Fridays for the weekend.

That, however, has not happened this week after the district suspended its summer programs this week because of the cybersecurity breach. District officials expect regularly scheduled summer activities to resume Monday.

School officials have not described the nature of the cybersecurity attack or said which systems were targeted. High school baseball and softball games have continued.

Sara Volz, executive director of the Zach Johnson Foundation, said even though summer school is canceled this week it felt “very important” that kids and families have access to food.

“This collaborative plan has really come together quickly to ensure we can still support our students and community; ultimately keeping our kids engaged and fed,” Volz said.

The Zach Johnson Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to helping Cedar Rapids children and their families. Johnson, a native of Cedar Rapids, is a professional golfer who has 12 victories on the PGA Tour, including two major championships, the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship.

Volz said the locations of where the food is being distributed were identified based on bus routes where children are picked up and dropped off for the summer programs.

“How great it was to be able to take this situation and make the best of it,” Volz said. “Even though we couldn’t have school, how quickly Kids on Course University staff, Zach Johnson and HACAP” — Hawkeye Area Community Action Program — “came together and worked collaboratively to come up with a plan to provide food to students and families.”

Food pickup locations

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