LOCAL

No kid goes hungry: Cheboygan Area Schools hosting annual Meet Up and Eat Up program

Cheboygan Daily Tribune

The Cheboygan County Fair, Compass Academy and Cheboygan Area Schools are teaming up this year to once again offer free, nutritious meals to children who are attending the Cheboygan County Fair. Cheboygan County Fair Manager Dan O'Henley, Compass Academy Director Megan Fenlon and Cheboygan Area Schools Food Services Director John Galacz are excited to bring this program back to the fair.

CHEBOYGAN — Cheboygan Area Schools is hosting its annual summer Meet Up and Eat Up program for children in the Cheboygan area, to help youth in the community stay well fed this summer.

The goal of this program is to make sure children and teenagers have access to healthy, nutritious meals when they are not in school. These meals will be offered at three different sites around the City of Cheboygan through mid-August.

"Starting on June 20, all kids and teens who are 18 years old and under can receive meals, free of charge," said Director of Dining Services at Cheboygan Area Schools John Galacz. "There is no registration needed."

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Between June 20 and July 27, except for July 4, meals will be served at Cheboygan Middle School on West Lincoln Avenue to any kid in the community who is hungry. Breakfast will be served from 8-9 a.m. Monday through Wednesday, and lunch will be served from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

East Elementary, on the city's east side, will be one of the sites around the City of Cheboygan that will be offering free, nutritious meals to children of the community ages 18 and younger during the summer months through the Meet Up and Eat Up program.

At Cheboygan Area School's East Elementary building on Garfield Avenue, meals will be served from June 20 through Aug. 18, except for July 4. Breakfast will be served, until July 27, from 8 a.m. until 9 a.m., and lunch will be served to kids from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

"We will also be doing our Meet Up and Eat Up program at the Cheboygan County Fairgrounds again this year," said Galacz.

During the week of the fair, Monday through Friday, the Meet Up and Eat Up program will be offering lunches, free of charge, to any youth who attend the fair. Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the fairgrounds Aug. 8-12.

More:Free meals offered to children during fair week

Officials said the summer months, when students are out of school, are sometimes the hardest for them to get the proper nutrition they need. Galacz and those putting on this program want to combat the hunger the youth may be experiencing.

The meals at the fair help to reach a population of children in the community the other meals might not reach. In 2019, there were around 750 meals given out to youth in the community through the program at the fair.

The meals are being offered through the school district's Summer Food Service Program. This program was put together to make sure children in lower income communities have access to nutritious meals even when they aren't in school during the summer.

More:Compass program offering free lunch to kids during fair week

When the students are in school, they receive hot lunches and breakfasts. During summer breaks, the Summer Food Service Program provides meals to students.

This program is also known as the Meet Up and Eat Up Summer Meals program. It is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture and run by local school districts and organizations. It has been offered for many years in the community and this will be the seventh year it will be offered at the fairgrounds.

Contact Reporter Kortny Hahn at khahn1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @khahnCDT.