FULTON – Summer often is a time for relaxation, a break from stresses of a challenging year of school for children; however, for some additional stress is added when it comes to food insecurity and where their next meals will come from.
Starting June 28, Oswego County Opportunities will continue to try and alleviate this pressure through partnering with 11 sites and the Summer Food Service Program to provide free meals to Oswego County Children.
OCO Nutrition Services has run the program the last 10 years, serving over 152,000 meals to children 18 years old or younger, according to Lori Halstead, the coordinator of nutrition services. The program places an important emphasis on nutrition, offering meals that are healthy.
“We follow meal patterns and make sure that children are getting a nutritious well-balanced meal,” Halstead said. “We have to follow guidelines to make sure that, just like the National School Lunch Program does.”
Due to potential discrepancies in demand, OCO requires parents to sign up for a meal one day prior, making sure each location has enough food for each child. This can be as simple as walking over to the location the day prior or calling the site’s supervisor, according to Halstead. Of the 11 locations, however, four are exclusively for children enrolled in given programs, namely the Camp Zerbe, Fulton YMCA, Oswego YMCA and Pulaski Junior/Senior High School locations.
Beyond healthy meals, it is also important for OCO to provide a selection of items that children actually enjoy, so they are getting the nutrients they need instead of throwing them out.
This was a key factor in creating the June and July menu that includes peanut butter and jelly uncrustables, bagels and even a “pizzable,” which is a cheese pizza made with a pita bread crust.
“[The sites] give us a lot of feedback regarding the menu and the meals themselves,” Halstead said. “We really keep an eye on them to let us know if the children like the meals. We make sure to ask them because we will change the menus based on the feedback.”
The free meals are provided from the United States Department of Agriculture and is a similar program to the National School Lunch Program that Halstead previously alluded to.
The program runs from late June through August 27, with the only off day on July 5 to celebrate Independence Day. Halstead expects OCO to feed 350-400 children across the 11 sites.
While this year’s program is nearly back to a more normal plan, last year it was drastically altered due to COVID-19. Last year, the on-site programs similar to the YMCAs were not running activities, so instead, they opted for grab and go-type lunches and breakfasts.
This year, there are not as many sites as there once was, according to Halstead, but OCO will still achieve its goal of feeding as many children as it can.
“This year it’s slowly opening back up. We still don’t have all of the sites back on that we had last year. They are trying to get their bearings together to get back open,” Halstead said. “If they are not open to full capacity, we are still partnering with them so … We can still get the food to the kids.”
Ultimately, feeding kids is the goal of this food service program. It is a way to make sure the kids and their parents can sit back and enjoy their summer a little bit more, knowing where their next breakfast and lunch will come from.
“[The sites tell us that] the parents are appreciative that they don’t have to pack a lunch every day,” Halstead said. “It’s helpful for them in so many ways.”
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