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USDA Extends Free Meals For All Kids During Summer

According to the North Carolina Department of Instruction, nearly 1 million North Carolina public school students were eligible last year to receive free or reduced-priced meals at school through the National School Lunch Program. Photo: KERI BROWN/WFDD

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is extending waivers that give school districts across the country more flexibility to provide free summer meals for children. 

Guilford County Schools is preparing to serve thousands of kids over the next few months.

Federally funded summer meal programsare designed to fill in the nutrition gap for children when school is out of session. There are specific guidelines districts must follow, but the USDA is granting waivers during the pandemic to make the process easier for both schools and families.

The latest extension runs through September 30. It allows districts to continue serving free grab-and-go meals at various sites and at times that meet student needs.

Parents or guardians can also pick up more than one meal at a time. They're available at no cost to all children 18 and under regardless of income. Registration and ID are not required.

Guilford County Schools Superintendent Dr. Sharon Contreras says more campuses will serve as pickup locations.

 “Every school building will be open with the exception of those where we have some construction projects occurring, so we won't have as many sites throughout the community, but the school sites themselves are open for grab and go,” says Contreras.

GCS officials say last summer the district served around 19,000 to 20,000 meals per day. 

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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