Nearly 270,000 free meals coming this summer to Columbus students

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Hundreds of thousands of free meals will be distributed to Columbus students under a program funded by a $2.5 million grant.

The program will serve nearly 100,000 breakfasts, 150,000 lunches and 20,000 snacks. They will be distributed at up to 150 sites, part of Ohio’s summer food program that Columbus’ Recreation and Parks Department will run. It’s open to anyone younger than 18.

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Columbus City Council recently approved the 2024 program. Joe Brown, food services director with Columbus City Schools, said it has been in place for at least 15 years.

“We’ve seen growth in this program over that time,” Brown said. “We’ve also learned over that time as a district, the meals are healthier than they were back then. We’ve tried to add more fresh fruits and vegetables, we try to do everything we can to make the meals things that appeal to students.”

Brown said the site is held at more than 100 sites around the city, with 30 up to several hundred students at any given location. Last summer, the program served 250,093 meals at 124 separate sites around the city, according to a Columbus City School representative.

“We understand the needs for our students,” Brown said. “A wellness student is better off, whether it be during the school day or whether it be during the summer, and we take that role very seriously and we do everything we can to take care of our kids.”

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The meals have to meet USDA requirements, Brown said, and the council’s legislation indicated the meals will be nutritionally balanced.

Food, however, isn’t the only thing students can benefit from at the meal sites.

“There might be summer school classes,” Brown said. “There might be some reading going on, stuff to eliminate the gap that students sometimes will have over the summer.”

The district is finalizing the list of 2024 sites which will be announced by the end of the school year, both through the schools and online.

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