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“There is a program called Seamless Summer -- it’s a national program and similar to the national school lunch program,” said Jeanine Giordano, a registered dietitian for Danbury Public Schools.
Essentially, it means that six schools are open over the summer to serve up free breakfasts or lunches. Any child age 2 to 18 can get the free meals. But the sites were chosen based on the number of students in the area who are enrolled in the free or reduced lunch program during the school year.
The six schools - Rogers Park and Broadview Middle Schools as well as Ellsworth Avenue, Hayestown Avenue, South Street and Morris Street Elementary Schools – are open during the summer for educational programs and are eligible to host the Seamless Summer programs.
On Monday, Gov. Dannel Malloy joined Connecticut Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor and representatives of the Connecticut No Kid Hungry campaign to launch the Summer Meals Program.
“Access to nutritious food is important for a bright future for all of our young people,” Malloy tweeted Monday.
“At least 19 percent of (Connecticut) kids don’t know where their next meal is coming from — in the summer this gets more complex because kids are not in school,” he said in a separate Tweet.
The program will serves meals to kids at more than 400 federally funded sites all summer long.
“It really is a great program to help the children of Danbury,” Giordano said. “So as long as there is a program there we’ll keep the doors open.”
Each school however, will have its own schedule. Here are the dates for each school in the program:
- Morris Street Elementary School: July 22 to Aug.15
- South Street Elementary School: July 1 to Aug. 16
- Ellsworth Avenue Elementary School: July 15 to Aug 16
- Rogers Park Middle School: June 25 to Aug. 16
- Broadview Middle School: July 1 to July 26
- Hayestown Avenue School: July 1 to Aug. 8
Breakfast will be served from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. and lunches from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. For more information, contact visit the Seamless Summer website or contact the school district.
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