Wisconsin (NBC 26) -- Free meals have been provided by local school districts to those 18 and younger for most of the pandemic, much in part due to the committed work of foodservice employees putting in the hard work and the USDA's assistance.
"When the USDA came through and said we're going to make lunch free to all the kids and reimburse us for it, it was a great thing for us and the students too."
Kaitlin Tauriainen, the Ashwaubenon Public School District's Child Nutrition Coordinator says when the meals became available for free, they noticed that students returning for in-person learning were utilizing the resource.
"We have actually doubled our breakfast participation in this last year since breakfast has become free."
When more students were provided meals, Tauriainen says staff often noticed that students have more focus, they're more alert, and it likely takes some stress off of many parents.
"I think collectively as a country we've realized how much this has benefited students," says Tauriainen.
At the Green Bay Area Public School District, they have also noticed just how many families have benefited from being able to pick meals up.
"It surpassed what our expectations were, to be honest with you," says Lynette Kiehnau the Director of the Foodservice Department at the Green Bay Area School District.
Kiehnau says they have distributed over 2.3 million meals since the pandemic began.
"We expanded it from not just serving breakfast and lunch, but then we started expanding serving dinner and also a snack."
It's safe to say countless families have benefited from programs like these and now many school districts will be offering this benefit to their community through the summer. Both the Ashwaubenon Public School District and the Green Bay Public School District plan on giving away free meals to anyone over the age of 18, often multiple times a week, until late September of 2021.
"We're very hopeful they (USDA) continue to extend them, just because we've seen such an amazing impact on the kids," adds Tauriainen.
The Ashwaubenon Public School District will be providing free bulk meal pickup for children on March 22nd, from 11 am to noon, at the Ashwaubenon High School parking lot. The meals will provide kids up to seven day's worth of breakfast for their spring break, and Domino's Pizza as well.
Original Story ---
School districts across Wisconsin have been offering free or reduced-price lunches for students and even those under the age of 18, since early on during the pandemic. The popularity of the programs, as many parents found themselves out of work, was an eye-opening experience for many in the foodservice profession.
Just last week the USDA announced that they will be extending their assistance to school districts to provide free meals, until September of 2021, instead of the original expiration of the federal assistance, which was slated to end in June of 2021.
This assistance from Washington means that for the second summer in a row, many school districts across northeast Wisconsin will once again help feed school-aged children, as parents collectively try to cope with some of the financial challenges the pandemic has presented.
The USDA made the announcement on March 9th. For their full press release, check out this link.
