Summer meals go mobile to meet needs

CONNERSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) - Summer break has started for hundreds of students across the state, and many districts will keep their cafeterias open to serve meals to kids in need. But not in Connersville. For the first time, Fayette County School Corp. will take summer meals to its students, instead of the other way around.

Federally funded programs help schools across the state provide free lunch, but Fayette County officials said there was one problem.

“Kids couldn't get to the schools,” said Siobhan Carey, director of dining services. So she proposed the mobile school lunch program during the summer.
“A lot of families are struggling, and this helps their grocery budget,” Carey said Monday after passing out grab-and-go lunches to kids. It helps, she said, “if they know they don’t have to feed their children lunch and they can come to my truck or go to a Gleaners site.”

Kids 18 and younger can grab the free sack lunches. All children wanting to participate must consume the meal at the designated site. No meals are to be taken home.

Paired with Gleaners Food Bank, you'll see the food trucks parked in the following locations and times Monday through Friday this summer.

• Connersville Park, 11 a.m. to noon
• Elephant Hill Mobile Home Park, 12:45 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
• Frazee Community Center, 1:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
• Wells Mobile Home Park, 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Connor Court Apartment, 2:45 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Deliveries won’t be available May 28 and July 4.

Monday , nearly 200 meals were served in Fayette County.

Statewide, more than 41,000 Indiana students received meals in the federally funded Summer Food Service Program in 2010

To find meals and sites in your community, call the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (for Spanish speakers). In addition to information on where to find summer sites in your area, food assistance information is also available through those toll-free numbers.