La Grande School District summer lunch program set to expand

LA GRANDE — The La Grande School District’s second-year summer food service program is a little like a successful restaurant chain adding new franchises.

The school district experienced so much success when it began operating the program in 2023 that it plans to double the number of sites it will be providing free grab-and-go lunches this summer to children and teenagers.

“This is exciting. We did much better than expected last summer so we will be expanding this year," said Lindsey Meinhard, the La Grande School District’s food service manager, who added that an average of about 300 children and teenagers were served each day in 2023.

The district will continue providing bagged grab-and-go lunches and breakfasts at Greenwood Elementary School and in Island City at Fred Beeman Park, while adding Central Elementary School and Pioneer Park to its list of distribution points. The Pioneer Park site will be operated in conjunction with La Grande Parks and Recreation.

At Greenwood, the meals will be picked up at the southwest corner entrance into the school. At Central, meals will be provided outside the entrance of its cafeteria when the weather is good and inside when there are inclement conditions.

Weather will not impact where the meals are provided at Pioneer and Fred Beeman parks because both have covered sites where meals will always be served, Meinhard said.

Each grab-and-go bag at the four sites will contain a lunch and a breakfast and will be available to anyone younger than 18 regardless of their family’s socioeconomic status or where they live. No paperwork has to be filled out before one can receive a meal, Weinhard said.

The La Grande School District will be reimbursed by the Oregon Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for each meal served.

The school district last summer took over the summer food program from Community Connection of Northeast Oregon, which ran it for many years.

Rising prices

Meinhard attributes the higher than expected demand last summer in large part to rising food prices.

“It provided relief for parents," she said.

Food prices, of course, have continued to rise since last summer, which means that participation in this year's meal program, Meinhard said, should again be high.

The main entrees for lunches this summer will again be sandwiches and wraps. Lunches will also include fruits, vegetables, milk and snacks.

Breakfasts will include milk and an entree, such as a blueberry waffle, Meinhard said.

The summer lunch program staff will focus on providing a variety of different items in grab-and-go bags each day.

“We want to keep things interesting for the children," Meinhard said.