San Marcos CISD Expands Program To Feed Local Children Throughout The Summer

The meals prepared by Boone and his staff help feed numerous programs the school district has in place throughout the summer such as athletic training camps and academic activities.

By: Undria Wilson

A summer meal program sponsored by San Marcos CISD is implementing new locations to feed disadvantaged children throughout the summer.

From June 5 to Aug. 11, the program will provide meals at several different sites, including San Marcos High School, Crockett Elementary, De Zavala Elementary, Bonham Pre-K and Doris Miller Middle School. The High School cafeteria will extend 1 week of Summer Feeding until August 18, 2017.

The summer feeding program began at the San Marcos High School campus and has expanded in the last twelve years since Mike Boone, director of Child Nutrition Services, arrived at SMCISD.

The problem that this program is facing is keeping up with the numerous sites to feed kids who may only receive one meal at school or not eat at all.

Melba Perez, Associate Director of Child Nutrition for San Marcos CISD, says, “Based on how many students participate during the school year in our National School Lunch Program (NSLP) we know our community, children and families are in need of our Seamless Summer Feeding Program. We are currently 76% Free and Reduced for the 2016-2017 school year.”

“We have off feeding sites in Redwood Baptist Church site; Martindale Three Rivers Church site; San Marcos Housing -CM Allen Woods and Allen Wood Apartments; San Marcos Public Library and Rio Vista Park Pavilion,” Perez said.

SMCISD Child Nutrition Service is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which awarded the district $4.3 million for the school year, Boone said. From those funds, $127,525.53 were used for the summer feeding program last year.

The meals prepared by Boone and his staff help feed numerous programs the school district has in place throughout the summer such as athletic training camps and academic activities. Through this program, they have an opportunity to reach children from economically disadvantaged homes, which amounts to over 74 percent of the students enrolled in the district.

Boone and his staff have been both locally and nationally recognized several times for their work by organizations such as the Texas Department of Agriculture and USBA.

Students and children ages 18 and under, enjoy a free breakfast and lunch. Meals are also offered to adults of 19 years and up at a cost of $1.50 for breakfast and $3.00 for lunch. Breakfast is served from 7:30am – 8:30am and Lunch is served from 11:00am – 1:00pm Monday through Friday.

The Summer Feeding Program has a Purple Mobile Bus that delivers lunch to the following off-site routes:

10:30am: Morning Wood Neighborhood

11:15am: Regency Mobile Home Park, Post Rd

12:00pm: Riverview Apartments

12:45pm: Cuauhtémoc Hall Parking Lot

For more information, please visit http://www.smcisd.net.