SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO) — Friday, May 26 was the last day of the 2023 school year for the Sioux Falls School District. With summer’s arrival, here’s a guide to free summer lunch programs for students in the area.
The school district has free lunches at eight schools this summer starting June 6 and ending July 28.
Laura B Anderson, Cleveland, Eugene Field A+, Hawthorne, Lowell and Ann Sullivan will serve breakfast on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8-8:45 a.m. CT and lunch Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CT. Garfield and Terry Redlin serve breakfast the same days as the other schools, but will serve lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The school district summer meal program is available for children under 18 years old.
EmBe is also holding a summer lunch program from June 5 through August 16 for people ages 0 – 18 years old. The downtown EmBe location will serve lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT Monday through Friday. Breakfast will be provided at the downtown location from 8-9 a.m. CT.
Brandon Hanson, the executive director of childcare and school age care, said EmBe strives to include more fresh food with their meals.
“We’ve been committed for quite a couple of years now to pushing the boundaries on the balance of how much fresh foods versus processed food we’re doing,” Hanson said. “We’re well beyond like 50-60% of the food will be fresh and prepared fresh.”
The EmBe summer meal program is available for children under 12 years old and free.
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church will be partnering with EmBe to hold lunches at their location as well. Lunch will be served at Our Savior’s Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT. EmBe will be preparing and delivering the meals to the church every morning.
“It’s part of our mission, it’s outreach and we have a big space,” Barb Hagen, the Our Savior’s business administrator, said. “We were approached by EmBe and it just works out.”
Hagens said the church served 6,150 kids in 2022.
“When the summer months hit, there’s a huge gap and a huge need for those families who can’t afford food,” Brandon Hanson, executive director of childcare and school age care said. “As a company whose mission is to empower women and families, we felt the call to step into that.”