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While school is no longer in session and kids enjoy summer’s splendors, Clark County Public Schools continue to stay actively involved.

The summer food service program allows employees and others to continue providing for youth, who receive the resources they need for a successful day. 

“The summer food service program is a community service opportunity that all districts in the state have an opportunity to participate in,” said Dr. Jennifer Muncy, Director of Food Services for Clark County Public Schools. “We want to help our community, so we see it as a way to continue [to] feed our children throughout the summer.” 

The program, which is free to children 18 and under, is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. 

After filling out the necessary paperwork to apply for the summer food service program, CCPS was left to decide exactly how they wanted to go about doing so. 

“We chose two different options,” Muncy added. 

The first, mobile routes, allow two different buses to go out each day, one primarily in the county area and one more in the city. 

At different predetermined stops, a student or parent/guardian can pick up a meal for a child, though the latter must provide the child’s name and age. 

A delivered mobile route meal includes a lunch meal for the day off and a breakfast meal for the following day.

Thus, the results have been quite effective, with approximately 15,800 lunches and 12,800 breakfasts being served in 2023. 

Another option is what’s known as congregate meals, where others can gather to eat in a group setting. 

In Clark County, this means dining at either Baker Intermediate School or Shearer Elementary School. 

“A child can come in the door and get a meal, but they have to sit down and eat in the cafeteria,” Muncy said. “GRC also has some summer feeding. It is open at GRC, but most high school students would be…your clubs, summer sports kids, [and] band camp.” 

As with other counties, the program is not only convenient – but also quite relevant. 

“Fifty-eight percent of our students receive some form of assistance,” Muncy said. “About 70% of our students eat school food, so we know there is a need in our community for meals.” 

Muncy insists that it also helps build deeper connections. 

“We need the families to see all of us, whether it’s the food service, the teachers, the principals, [or] the school resource officers,” she said. “We need them to see us as their allies…this is a wonderful opportunity for us to show them that we care and there are trusting adults that exist.”

The summer food service program continues through Friday, July 26. 

They will be off on Thursday, July 4, and Friday, July 5. 

“It’s fully open,” she said.

More information, including lunchtimes, can be found in several ways. 

“[With] that particular situation, [people] would need to go to the district website, or their school website probably has it,” Muncy said. “We try to post flyers throughout the community as well…the schools do have certain times that they’re allowed to feed.”