More than 32,000 Horry County students to get free meals this year

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Horry county students are back in the classroom for the first week of school, and this year, the district is offering free meals to a majority of students through a USDA grant.

“We’ve had to increase our staffing, which is a good problem to have,” Horry County Schools Director of Nutrition Services Kimberly Johnson said. “We look forward every day to feeding as many as we can.”

It became possible with community eligibility provision, or CEP service.

“It allows you to provide meals at no cost without parents having to submit [an] application,” Johnson said.

Johnson said it’s based on a formula for students who may have been receiving other state assistance programs such as Medicaid or SNAP.

“Those are qualifiers that could help bring more schools into a CEP situation and Horry County Schools was thankful that with those qualifiers, our numbers were higher and we were able to bring all of our schools in,” she said.

Of the 53 Horry County schools, there are about 48,000 students. Johnson said a little over 32,000 are receiving free breakfast and lunch at no cost this year.

“Having them ready to learn with their stomachs full is what a teacher would dream for,” she said.

Fueled, focused and ready to take on the school day, HCS is also being mindful on what they are serving up. They’re adding in more whole wheat options, cutting back on the sugar and offering fresh vegetables and fruits.

“We are going to try something called ‘woodles’ which is a new whole grain noodle bowl, so we are going to try some noodle bowls coming up in September,” Johnson said. “So, we are looking forward to that.”

The CEP service is available for five years, meaning HCS will be able to offer no cost meals until 2028.

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Adriana Cotero is News13’s weekend evening anchor and a morning reporter. She joined the team in July 2023 after working in the island of Guam. Adriana is from Saline, Michigan, and graduated from Central Michigan University. Follow Adriana on Facebook , X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram and read more of her work here .

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