As school gets out for summer, more than a million Florida students who depend on schools for food during the day will have to look elsewhere for meals.
To meet that need, the Florida Department of Agriculture offers a program called Summer BreakSpot at some schools, libraries and other locations.
More than 12,000 Duval County kids get snacks and lunches at no cost to parents through the Summer BreakSpot program.
There are no income eligibility requirements. Children do not need to be enrolled in camps or activities at the program sites to get a meal; they just need to show up during mealtime.
“The nutrition components are there. They get the requirements that they need to be healthy and to not experience that summer lapse in their nutrition, which sometimes will inhibit their ability to start learning when they get back to school,” said the Florida Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Lakeisha Hood.
A 'Free Lunch Served Here' banner is posted at each site with the meal times indicated.
List Of Participating Jacksonville locations
Pearl WIC and Nutrition Services (Lunch)
5322 N. Pearl Street Ste. 24, Jacksonville, FL 32208
Dates: June 4 – August 10
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Site contact: Sierra James (904) 253-1505
Center for Women and Children at Central Health Plaza (Lunch)
515 W. 6th Street, Jacksonville, FL 32206
Dates: June 5 – August 10
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Site contact: Annie Pollard (904) 253-1120
Wesconnett Health Services (Lunch)
5150 Timuquana Rd. Ste. 9, Jacksonville, FL 32210
Dates: June 4 – August 10
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Site contact: Katrina Shaw (904) 253-1080
South Jacksonville Immunization Center (Snack)
3225 University Blvd. S. Ste. 101
Jacksonville, FL 32216
Dates: June 4 – August 10
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Site contact: Lindsey Sowders (904) 253-1520
More information about the program, including a meal site locator for other areas, is at SummerBreakSpot.org.
Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter at @cydwjctnews. Michelle Corum can be reached at mcorum@wjct.org, 904-358-6308 or on Twitter at @MCorumonME.
Photo used under Creative Commons license.
