COLUMN: Meals Are in When School is Out

The school year is done and won’t be back for a

couple months. For some kids in Houston County, both athletes and non-athletes

alike, the school year is a burden that they all must go through: exams,

practices, school bus rides, friends and finally the last day of school. And

lunch. For a lot of kids living in this county and all over the state of

Georgia and the country, the meals that kids have at school in the morning and

afternoon of a school day may be their only meals of the day. Almost 100,000

schools around the country serve school breakfast and lunch through the year to

more than 30 million students, whether they need it or not. More than $200

billion worth of food is wasted in America every year with only (Only!) $1.2

billion worth being that of school meals. School meals are very necessary,

clearly too valuable to end when the school year ends.

The Summer Feeding Program’s motto is ‘Meals are in

when school is out’ and that couldn’t be more true and more American than any

other slogan I can think of.

The Houston County Board of Education and more

specifically the Houston County School Nutrition Program has made it possible

to keep those meals coming throughout the summer and that’s a great thing for

all kids, even the big bad athletes. They too can get a couple solid meals

during the summer. The need may very well outweigh the want and that’s not a

bad thing. It’s a reality and a young person aged 1-18 can be fed twice a day

in Perry and Warner Robins and that is a good thing. Area schools strategically

located in the two largest cities within the county, including a high school in

a heavily populated area, make a trip to get a healthy meal a lot easier.

There may not be a school bus picking kids up but the route to a bowl of

cereal, a piece of fruit, cold cup of juice and a hot meal is not too far away.

The summer time is a time for a break from school

and time for fun, games and relaxation for the youngest of us. They should not

have to worry about where their next meal is coming from and thanks to the

Summer Feeding Program they won’t have to. Even if a kid has the means to get

his or her three square meals a day they are still welcome to fellowship with

their schoolmates and peers. This means a lot to kids and so does a good

breakfast and lunch.

Locations in the county serving both breakfast and

lunch:

Huntington Middle School – 206 Wellborn Road,

Warner Robins

Morningside Elementary School – 1206 Morningside

Drive, Perry

Northside High School-Tabor Academy – 926 Green

Street, Warner Robins

Breakfast runs from 7:30 a.m.-8:30 a.m. and lunch from 10:30 a.m.-12:30

p.m.

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