Residents searching for meals this summer can swing by Hartman Elementary School, located at 510 S. Birmingham St.

The school is offering a morning snack and lunch option free of charge to children under 18 or individuals with a disability under 21 years of age. The summer feeding program began Monday, June 5, and will continue through Thursday, June 29.

For students enrolled in summer English as a Second Language programs at Hartman, their morning snack will be served from 8:30 to 9 a.m. and lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to noon. Community members can stop by from 9 to 9:30 a.m. for a morning snack or noon to 1 p.m. for lunch.

Dawn Lin, the director of student nutrition for Wylie, said around 130 meals have been served to students in summer programs with a further 20 to 40 distributed to community members. With the weather heating up, some special servings, such as fresh produce are able to be included in served meals.

“We are pleasantly surprised to have a good community turnout,” Lin said. “We are pleased to have fresh ingredients to provide to our students and community members.”

When serving meals, there are requirements for what is on the plate including two servings of grain equivalents, two servings of protein equivalents. Wylie ISD summer meals also include one-half cup of fruits and vegetables each and are served with a milk option, said Lin. Some meals so far have been served with fresh watermelon or strawberries.

Additionally, Texas ranks near the top of the list for students dealing with food insecurity, she added, which makes it more important to offer the summer meal options at Hartman Elementary.

“It allows us to reach out to the ones who are trying to figure out where their lunch will come from,” Lin said. “It’s also a great time to use fresh produce and provide a well-rounded meal for everybody.”

For the full story, see the June 14 issue of The Wylie News.