Rockingham County Schools summer meal program to begin next week

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) - Rockingham County Public Schools will be launching its 2022 summer meal program next week. The program will run Monday through Friday from July 12 to July 29 while the school division holds summer school.

The program is slightly different from previous years and will allow any parent in the county to bring their child to pick up free breakfast and lunch each day.

“Meals will be available at all of our summer school sites, so that is all of our elementary schools except for Linville-Edom Elementary School and then all of our middle schools,” said Jennifer Williams, Food and Nutrition Supervisor for Rockingham County Schools.

The meals are cooked for summer school students but will be available to any child in need throughout the county. Williams estimates each school will have enough to feed 50 to 100 children on a given day.

As food insecurity rises in the Valley due to inflation, the school division hopes the program will provide some help for families in need.

“We hope that this program can provide some relief to families here in the middle of the summer and then we, of course, always encourage our families to reach out to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. We try to make those connections to families who do reach out,” said Williams.

While the school division has felt the effects of inflation and has dealt with understaffing, Williams said the program will still be able to run smoothly.

“We have staff at all of our schools for summer school and we’re still able to provide the same menu that we would’ve provided otherwise, so we’re not letting that impact what we’re providing to the kids,” she said.

Meals be able to be picked up at the office of each school, except for Linville-Edom. Breakfasts will be available from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and lunches will be available from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.

You can learn more about the program here.

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