ARLINGTON (WBAP/KLIF News ) – Arlington ISD is making sure its students who are experiencing food insecurity are well fed over the summer months.
Any student 18 and under has access to a free meal at one of the district’s 35 locations.
David Lewis is the district’s Food and Nutrition Services Director and said there are a few changes to the meal service since the COVID-19 pandemic protocols were enacted in 2020.
“The child will actually need to come to the site themselves to pick up the meal during the scheduled service and then the child will also need to eat the meal on site,” he said.
Unfortunately, many non-profits said for some of the district’s most needy families, the free meal may be the only one a student eats that day.
“In order for a child to succeed, they first have to have food. For your body to grow, you obviously have to put something into it and when you’re in a city that’s 73 percent under resourced there are so many who don’t have the resources to go out and purchase those meals,” said Lewis.
Families in need of the meal services can text “FOOD” or “COMIDA” to 304-304 or dial 2-1-1 to speak to an operator.
Click here for information about the program.
The Summer Food Summer Program is a U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition program administered here by the Texas Department of Agriculture.
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