Jones County School Nutrition will participate in the Seamless Summer program again this summer to provide students with nutrition while they are out of school.
Matoshia Grant, the Jones County School Nutrition Program director, said the nutrition program will offer breakfast and lunch meals to all children. She said they will also have bus routes out in the community to service children as well.
“The Jones County School Nutrition Program will distribute meals under the Seamless Summer Option starting on June 1, and runs through July 15,” she said. “The Seamless Summer Option allows the nutrition program to provide meals to students during the summer and other vacation periods. It provides free summer meals to children under 18 years old and students over 18 years old with a state defined mental or physical disability.”
She said summer meals provide children with the nutrition they need when school is out, and a safe haven where they can play and learn to keep their minds and bodies active during the summer months. She said the availability of these meals, which are served at no cost to children 18 years old and under, also reduces the financial burden on caretakers when school is out of session.
“Food insecurity does not just exist during the school year, meaning most of the students who benefit from these meal programs likely do not have access to meals during the summer months. Federal programs like the Seamless Summer Option give the Jones County School System an opportunity to combat food insecurity,” Grant said.
The director said they are not taking donations this year. She said the nutrition program must comply with all federal guidelines to operate under the provision to continue to service the community
Grant said all site information is available on the Jones County School Nutrition website, as it is constantly changing. She said mea pick up times are 11a.m. to 2 p.m. To access that information, visit https://jonescountyschoolnutrition.com.
“The most rewarding part of feeding children in the community is just that. You are feeding the children,” the director said. “There is no name attached to hunger, and as a community stakeholder we ar constantly finding ways to support Jones County.”
