The Sheridan School District is continuing its summer meal program to help ensure children have access to nutritious food while school is out of session.
District officials recently welcomed representatives from the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, No Kid Hungry and local community leaders to highlight the importance of providing meals to students during the summer months.
The district says the program is intended to continue supporting students even when classes are not in session by helping meet basic nutritional needs.
Each Monday, district staff and volunteers pack thousands of meals for distribution. This summer, the program is serving about 900 children through a combination of grab-and-go meal boxes, on-site meals and home deliveries to families in rural areas.
During the program’s first four weeks, the district distributed approximately 37,000 meals. Officials expect that number to reach about 87,000 meals by the end of the summer.
Each meal box contains five breakfasts and five lunches designed to be easy for children to prepare at home. Meals are available for pickup at designated school locations, while volunteers also deliver food to students living in surrounding rural communities.
District officials said participation has exceeded initial expectations, demonstrating a greater need for the program than originally anticipated.
In addition to providing meals, the district also connects eligible families with Summer EBT grocery benefits to help supplement food assistance throughout the summer.
State and nonprofit leaders attending the event emphasized that summer meal programs help address childhood food insecurity, support student health and learning, and provide additional benefits to Arkansas communities. According to the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, one in four children in Arkansas lives in a food-insecure household, making summer meal programs an important resource for many families while school cafeterias are closed.
