Program keeps kids' meals coming
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on June 22, 2009 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/GREG SOUSA
Children at the Fremont Boys & Girls Club enjoy a nutritious lunch together on Thursday as part of a summer meal program provided by Daniels Children's Outreach. There are currently five locations in the county where meals are provided during the summer months for children from birth to age 18.
Doris Daniels has seen firsthand the importance of children getting a nutritious meal.
The teacher at Goldsboro Intermediate School recalls all the mornings she witnessed her own students arriving at school hungry.
"They couldn't work, they couldn't think or concentrate," she said.
Breakfast and lunch programs in the school system helped, she said. But what about when school let out, and especially this summer, when the district was unable to fund a summer school program for most of the grades?
Fortunately, Ms. Daniels learned about a program several years ago designed to meet that need. The summer food program is sponsored by the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture and funded by the Division of Public Health and Nutri-tion Services branch of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
"I heard of the program, I went to the training and that's how I got started," said Ms. Daniels, who launched Daniels Children's Outreach six years ago. It provides free breakfast and lunch for children up to age 18 and runs from June 15 through Aug. 14.
"All the meals are nutritious," said Ms. Daniels, who oversees the program and monitors it to make sure state regulations are being followed. "It's very successful. This year it will probably be more successful because we don't have summer school (and) the children need a place to eat."
Each summer locally, between 30,000 and 65,000 meals are served, "so it's a need here in Wayne County," she pointed out.
Currently, there are five sites around the county. Registration is not required and there is no fee.
Locations and weekday hours of service are:
*Boys & Girls Club of Fremont, 11:30 a.m. until 12:15 p.m.
*Boys & Girls Club of Goldsboro, Royall Avenue, 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
*Dillard Academy, Elm Street, 8:30-9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
*Stoney Creek FWB Church, Highway 111, 8:30-9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
*W.A. Foster, South Leslie Street, 12:30-1 p.m.
A similar food program is offered around the state, with an estimated 250 sites in 30 counties, and others being added all the time.
For more information on the program in Wayne County, contact Ms. Daniels at 920-9961.