HOLLAND — Holland Public Schools will have a new way to provide meals for school-aged children this summer.
The district will take part in the Rural Non-Congregate Meal Program through the USDA and Michigan Department of Education. Through the program, HPS will distribute weekly meal boxes with seven days of breakfasts and lunches throughout the summer.
Boxes will be distributed at Central Wesleyan Church — 446 W. 40th St. — on Thursdays, June 12-Aug. 7. Each will contain a menu with food preparation instructions.
“Families can go each Thursday from noon-1 p.m. — the time may have to be adjusted based on the number of families we get — and pick up boxes with seven days of breakfast and lunch for each child in their household,” Arletha Banks, director of nutrition services for HPS, said.
Any child aged 18 or younger — or those up to age 26 receiving special education services — is eligible to receive meals through the program.
There’s a form available on the district website, hollandpublicschools.org, where families can pre-register for meal boxes by providing their name, contact information and how many boxes they’ll need.
Meals must be picked up by a parent or guardian. Children don’t have to be HPS students and don’t have to be present during pick-up times.
The meal box distribution is similar to how all summer meal sites worked during the COVD-19 pandemic, Banks said. Post-pandemic, though, the non-congregate option is only available in rural areas.
While the city of Holland as a whole isn’t considered rural, all of Allegan County is. Since HPS is partially located in both counties, the district is eligible for a rural non-congregate site as long as the distribution center is in Allegan County.
Banks said the district will start with one non-congregate site this summer, but could look to have multiple sites in the future, if there’s demand for more.
“We’re starting slow, just one site,” she said. “If it happens to be successful, which we think it will be, we’ll look into some other sites in Allegan County.”
In addition to the new non-congregate site, HPS will operate 13 congregate meal sites daily throughout the summer as part of the Meet Up and Eat Up Program. At these locations, meals must be eaten on-site, and food cannot be taken home. The sites are also open to those up to age 18, or up to age 26 if enrolled in special education programming.
A full list of congregate sites will be posted on the district website. They will include Kollen Park, Moran Park, Smallenburg Park, Holland High, West Elementary and churches in the Holland Heights neighborhood, according to Banks.
“We just want to welcome everyone to come and be a part of it,” she said.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Public Schools will have weekly meal boxes available all summer. What to know
Reporting by Mitchell Boatman, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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