May 03, 2024

School District offering free lunches this summer to all Newton children

By Ty Rushing

Berg Elementary School will host the Newton Community School District’s Summer Food Service Program this year. SFSP began on Monday and ends on July 31. Meals are served from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and there are free pick-up locations at various district buildings. (Ty Rushing)

The Newton Community School District is doing its part to ensure that no child in Newton is going without a hot meal this summer.

On Monday, the district began its Summer Food Service Program at the Berg Elementary School cafeteria. This program guarantees any child under the age of 18 will receive a free lunch at the building, and anyone over 18 can get a meal for $3.

NCSD Food Supervisor Cristy Croson talked about the creation of the program.

“When I took over as supervisor five years ago, I started researching the idea of offering meals throughout the summer as our free and reduced meal percentages were increasing in our district,” Croson said. “When school gets out, many children are still in need of a nutritious meal to help continue to learn, play and grow over the summer months.

“Good nutrition is essential for learning, so our free meal program provides this nutrition over the summer months. This summer will be our fourth year operating the program and I hope to see the program continue to grow and expand.”

According to the Iowa Department of Education, more than 50 percent of students in the district qualify for free or reduced lunch.

In the past, this program has also been offered at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. Croson explained why the district went with the decision to only use one location this year.

“The decision was difficult as we want to serve as many children as possible over the summer,” Croson said. “The meal counts were very low at Thomas Jefferson last summer. Our plan this year is to bus the children all to Berg to help serve everyone in the community and make the program financially responsible.”

Croson said that HIRTA Public Transit offered its services to district to make sure that all kids had a way to Berg this year.

“After many phone calls and bus schedule ideas, we have a partnership with them (HIRTA) to help get the children to the meal site this summer,” Croson said. “We appreciate their support to help this wonderful program to feed children over the summer in our community.”

With the ongoing rise of students on free and reduced lunch in Newton, Croson is hoping to get the word out about this program on a larger scale, to make sure that children are eating properly and not going hungry over summer break.

“We are expecting a larger turn out this year as more families become aware of the program and we are providing free transportation to and from the program from many areas of the community,” Croson said.

SFSP will last until July 31 and is between 11 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, with the exception of the Fourth of July, which falls on a Friday this year.

Free bus pick up and drop off locations are as follows:

• 10:30 a.m. at Thomas Jefferson’s north parking lot.

• 10:40 a.m. at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School’s front entrance.

• 10:50 a.m. at the front parking lot of Emerson Hough.

• 11 a.m. at Aurora Heights Elementary School’s north parking lot.

The bus will depart from the Berg front entrance at 11:45 a.m. and no supervision will be present at the pick-up sites.

For more information, contact Croson at (641) 792-5792, ext. 2001.