Hunger Doesn’t End When School Lets Out

For many, summer is a carefree time. But not for those who aren’t sure where they will get their next meal.

This summer, John Barry Elementary School is piloting a free breakfast program during the summer school session, July 5 – 22. Children in grades 1 – 3 enrolled in the summer session at the school get breakfast in the classroom Monday through Friday. Anyone under 18 may also have breakfast from 9 to 9:45 a.m. on the patio outside the school cafeteria while summer school is in session.

Meriden Public Schools Food Services Manager Susan Maffé says, “The idea came from one of my cafeteria managers who works at John Barry. She recognized the need for a summer program based on the need she saw at her school during the year.”

That cafeteria manager, Toni Baggetta, sees a lot of hungry kids during the school year. “In the morning, they’re famished from the night before. Some of them don’t even have supper,” she relates.

As of the end of the 2010-11 school year, 65 percent of Meriden students qualified for free or reduced lunch, Maffé reveals. Nearly 85 percent of the children attending John Barry School are eligible, according to Connecticut Department of Education figures.

In its first few days, the pilot program dished up an average of 288 breakfasts each morning in the classrooms and 20 breakfasts on the patio. The number has risen each day. Maffé hopes to serve about 500 free breakfasts a day by the end of the summer school session.

The breakfast--reduced-sugar cereal, graham crackers, apple juice and 1 percent milk—is the same each day. The meal meets nutritional standards required by the federal government, says Maffé, herself a registered dietician.

“It’s really good,” says fourth grader Ashley Delgado, age 9.

July Vargas, age 8, adds, “It’s kind of nice because sometimes people didn’t get to eat breakfast at their own home.”

The pilot is an extension of the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs offered to eligible students during the school year. Paid for by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the program is administered by the Connecticut Department of Education. About 36,000 Connecticut children are eligible for free meals through the Summer Food Service Program for Children, according to the agency. Last summer, nearly 34,000 children were served in 510 locations throughout the state.

The John Barry summer school breakfast pilot is just one such program. In addition, New Opportunities, Inc., a nonprofit community action agency headquartered in Waterbury, provides more than 1,000 free lunches a day for children throughout Meriden as part of the federally funded program. New Opportunities hands out lunches weekdays in 22 locations citywide until August 19.