LEWES — Starting this week, any Cape Henlopen student under 18 with their school issued student identification number, a free or reduced meal program or a few dollars in their pocket can pick up a meal or two from area schools.
On July 1, Cape Henlopen School started their summer nutrition programs, and are offering breakfasts and lunches between 10:30-11 a.m. Monday through Thursday at Lewes Elementary School, 820 Savannah Road; Cape Henlopen High School, 1250 Kings Hwy.; and the Sussex Consortium, 17344 Sweetbriar Road.
“All they need to do is stop by and ring the bell. There’s even a picnic area onsite, where you can enjoy your meals,” Stacy Smith, supervisor of child nutrition services at Cape Henlopen Schools, said.
The meals will be the typical school lunches provided during most of the year, set by MyPlate guidelines and National School Lunch Meal Pattern requirements including given calorie, sugar and salt range as well as offering certain food components weekly, like dark green veggies, beans and whole grains, Ms. Smith explained.
And the meals may very well be free, as a hefty portion of those eligible in the Cape Henlopen School District in Sussex County, never even apply.
According to Smith, the district has 6,802 students with less than 20 percent, or 1,108 having applied for free or reduced cost meals. This has left the district and families with more than $55,000 in school lunch debt.
“Everyone can apply. We want everyone to apply, because we can avoid lots of debt and use the higher reimbursements to get more produce, more fruits and vegetables,” she said previously.
The schools are reimbursed by the state of Delaware at a higher rate for free and reduced meal recipients, Ms. Smith said.
Since most transactions will be handled by means of school-issued identification numbers that do not change during the course of enrollment, Ms. Smith said, there is no way to tell if a meal is on a different price scale from one student to the next.
Applications, along with eligibility requirements can be accessed and reviewed via the nutritional services’ website, www.capehenlopenschoolmenus.com .
Enrolled summer school students also have access to the backpack program provided by the Delaware Food Bank, which sends shelf stable food items home over the weekend, and allows parents to arrange for baby formula.
Online payments, prepayments and other services can be accessed via nutritional services’ website or through a the MySchoolMenus app.
The site and application offer a complete list of all food choices available to students, nutrient data for the menu items, ingredient information, allergen identification, dietary preference indications and translation services into other languages.
Staff writer Brian Gilliland can be reached at 410-603-3737 or bg@iniusa.org.
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