Summer meals
Crane district food program starts June 4
Crane district schools participating in the Summer Food Program will be serving breakfast and lunch for most of its summer break.
Crane schools are set to dismiss May 31 (with the exception of Ronald Reagan), and the district’s nutrition department will start serving meals through a federally funded program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on June 4, the following Monday.
Breakfast and lunch will be served daily Monday through Friday except for the Fourth of July (a Monday) through July 27. Crane students head back to the classroom Aug. 1. Meals are free for those 18 and younger.
“I have had children and parents express gratitude for providing meals during the school year and especially during the summer, because some of our Crane students don’t get to eat every day,” said Nutrition director Michael Clark on why the district is serving almost right up until the school year starts.
“If it is really the goal of school food service to feed hungry children like we tell everyone, why would I only provide meals for two-thirds of the summer? Kids are hungry the other days, too,” Clark said.
If Clark could, he said he’d serve meals every day to feed children in the district’s high-poverty areas.
“There are a few days that I can’t do anything about like the Fourth of July being a major holiday and the few others are needed to reset and prepare for the change to a new school year,” he explained. “We consider it a point of pride to serve our community and fill a need throughout the year.”
Meals will be served at five Crane schools — Gary Knox, 2926 S. 21st Drive; Pueblo, 2803 W. 20th St.; Ronald Reagan, 3200 W. 16th St.; Valley Horizon, 4501 W. 20th St.; and Rancho Viejo/ Salida Del Sol, 1020 S. Avenue C. Breakfast starts at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 9 a.m. Lunch will be from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Menus and other information can be found online at the Nutrition Department’s website: http://www. craneschools.org/ SchoolNutrition. aspx. Menus have information on calorie and carbohydrate counts as well.