Here are the places kids can get free meals during the summer

Schools throughout Thurston County will continue to provide free lunches to children under the age of 18 this summer. As schools transition, so does where you can pick up free meals.

Olympia School District plans to maintain its current community distribution sites until July 1, when they’ll reduce the number of community sites to three. Lunches will still be served at all OSD elementary schools, Olympia Regional Learning Academy (ORLA) and Jefferson Middle School.

Tumwater School District will now be serving out of just Tumwater High School, Littlerock Elementary School and Michael T. Simmons Elementary School. The district will no longer have a site at East Olympia Elementary, and will instead be making deliveries in the East Olympia and Black Lake neighborhoods from 11:20 a.m. to 1 p.m., and in the Littlerock neighborhood from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

North Thurston Public Schools had many delivery locations during the school year, and will narrow that to nine schools in the district where Grab ‘n’ Go meals will be available during the summer.

“We are excited to continue offering food to kids through our free summer meals program,” said NTPS spokesperson Courtney Schrieve in an email to The Olympian. “Our Food and Nutrition staff have true compassion for our students and don’t want them to go hungry this summer. They will offer a variety of hot and cold sandwiches, chicken drumsticks, and some items they can reheat at home such as teriyaki rice and nachos.”

Students from neighboring districts like Griffin, where there is no summer meal program, are allowed to go to any meal site to pick up a bagged lunch and a breakfast for the following morning. On Fridays, weekend meal boxes also will be handed out to those in need.

“Any student, regardless of age, is eligible to pick up a meal,” said OSD spokesperson Susan Gifford. “Youth not enrolled in school, but under 18, are also eligible to receive a meal.”

When picking up meals, students will not be asked for their name, enrollment status or identification. If a parent picks up a meal without their child present, they may be asked to sign a form, depending on the district.

Most sites open around 11 a.m. and close down about 1 p.m.; however, hours vary site-to-site. Check the hours of operation for the meal site closest to you by consulting this map of all current meal distribution sites in Thurston County.

If you do not see a meal site close to you, check https://www.nokidhungry.org/find-free-meals or text “food” or “comida” to 877-877.

Meal programs

• Olympia School District will begin its new meal program with altered community locations July 1 and will end Aug. 28.
• Tumwater School District’s summer meal program began June 23 and will last through Aug. 28.
• North Thurston Public Schools began its summer meal program on June 22, and it will go until Aug. 14.
• Rochester School District will continue to deliver meals to bus stops through the end of June, then, beginning in July, will serve meals out of the Boys and Girls Club of Thurston County until Aug. 21.
• Tenino School District will continue to serve free breakfast and lunches through August, with no end date yet announced.
• Griffin School District will not have a summer meal program, but urges its students to go to Olympia School District or Shelton School District, according to Griffin School District Child Nutrition Supervisor Tawnya White.
• Rainier School District will continue to serve Grab ‘n’ Go meals from Rainier Elementary School during the summer.
• Yelm School District, with assistance from the Yelm Rotary Club, will deliver meals during the summer on Tuesdays starting June 23 and lasting until Aug. 25.

All distribution sites will be closed July 3 for the national holiday. Breakfasts and weekend meals will be handed out earlier in the week to accommodate the closure.

Partnerships keep the food coming

Yelm School District has partnered with the Rotary Club of Yelm for a “Ten Weeks of Summer” program that delivers meals from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesdays. Be sure to look at the map for Yelm’s distribution locations.

The Tenino, Tumwater and Olympia school districts are working with Homeless Backpacks to ensure families have meals on the weekends, too.

Usually only serving homeless youth, Homeless Backpacks has decided to extend its program to all students in need, increasing the number of students it serves from 600 to 2,400. The group will deliver bags of non-perishable food to schools’ meal sites on Fridays throughout the summer.

“We knew the need would not just magically stop now that school’s out,” said Kelly Wilson, Homeless Backpacks chairperson.

The group is planning a 24-hour bag-a-thon July 10-11 to get all 7,400 bags ready for the summer.

This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 5:45 AM.