Willits Unified Summer Food Program busy this year
Willits Unified School District (WUSD) is once again offering free meals for children through the Seamless Summer Program. The program is available for children 18 years old and younger regardless of if they are enrolled in WUSD or not.
Summer Food Program Supervisor Tina Cresswell said the program has been busy this year and Mondays are typically the busiest day as a lot of families like to pick up meals for the week. By the end of the day on Monday, June 27, Cresswell and her team had sent out over 1,000 meals for local children. Parents and children line up at the door of the Baechtel Grove Middle School (BGMS) cafeteria to receive their meals.
As soon as they closed the door for the Seamless Summer Program, BGMS summer school students entered the cafeteria ready to eat. The food services workers switched gears with an impressive speed to feed the hungry middle schoolers. The crew is also providing meals to all schools in the district that are offering summer school as well as the Imagination Station Preschool and Childcare Center and the Otters Swim Team.
The Seamless Summer Program provides breakfast and lunch for children every weekday that can be picked up daily or weekly. The program is through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and has been around for about 10 years. However, Cresswell said it has expanded in the last few years. She explained, “In part, because of the pandemic but it had even started increasing before that.” With the astronomical cost of groceries it is no surprise that parents are utilizing the program more than ever.
Each meal offers a variety of foods in an impressive quantity. For breakfast, children receive cereal, instant oatmeal, granola bars, pastries, fruit, milk and a protein such as egg, cheese or yogurt. Lunch comes with a sandwich (turkey, salami or an Uncrustable) or frozen bean and cheese burrito, a lunch grain that is either animal crackers, graham crackers or Cheez-It’s. Lunches also come with trail mix, fruit and chips. The fruit selection varies from craisins, raisins, pears, apples, oranges, bananas, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, plums, watermelon and cantaloupe.
Cresswell, who works at Willits High School during the school year, said of herself and co-workers, “We really have a passion, we want to feed the kids, we want to make sure they have food.” Judging by the amount of food they are sending out to children, the sentiment proves to be true.
There is no limit to the number of children who can be served through the Seamless Summer Program. Cresswell stated, “We would love to have more people know about it and utilize it.”
Daily or weekly meal pickups are available at the BGMS cafeteria Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. This program is free of charge for all income levels. Proof of residence and income are not required; all that is required is a name on the sign-in sheet to help keep track of the number of children served through the program.
Call the cafeteria for more information at (707) 459-2417, extension 1215. The program will run through Aug. 12.
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