Free food for youths in summer

As the school year ends, free food programs for youths 18 years and younger will start for the summer at many locations in Yuba-Sutter through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and coordinated by school districts.

Thousands of meals, breakfasts and/or lunches, will be provided by the Summer Food Service Program.

There are no prerequisites and no registration is required.

It’s a program “that feeds any child that walks in the door, even if they are only visiting,” said Amber Watson, director of Nutrition Services at the Marysville Joint Unified School District.

The district started a free breakfast and lunch program last August for any student, she said, “So every kid in our district can eat for free.

“It’s important our school district can provide food for the summer.”

The district served more than 5,000 lunches in the 2016 summer program. “We’re hoping to do more,” Watson said.

This year’s program is at four schools and one business.

The Yuba City Unified School District is providing healthy, fresh meals to kids at 12 sites this year.

“We’re introducing kids to different kinds of fruit and vegetables they haven’t seen before,” said Karen Leyno, student nutrition area supervisor.

The Yuba City school district served about 1,400 children a day in 2016. The average number of youths served is from 1,000 to 1,500 per day, Leyno said.

“We’re doing right by the children,” she said.

The Butte County Office of Education, based in Oroville, serves breakfast and lunch for the summer at one school in Live Oak.

The CalKidz Program served about 2,500 meals a day in 2016 in its service area, said Julianna Roberts, Food and Nutrition administrator.

“This year we expect about the same, maybe more,” she said, “because the need is out there, unfortunately.”

The Butte County office serves Butte, Sutter, Tehama and Glenn counties.

The need for free meals is “the reality for our community,” Watson said.