Summer meal program gives kids in Trenton free breakfast, lunch

TRENTON, Tenn. — A new summer meal program provides breakfast and lunch for children in the Trenton area while school is out.

Cafeteria workers prepared food Wednesday for kids at Trenton Elementary School. The Seamless Summer Meal Program provides free breakfast and lunch for kids when school is out.

“We want to make sure every child this summer is fed,” Trenton Special School District School Nutrition Director Lisa Seiber said.

It is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program. Seiber said this summer they plan to feed between 300 and 400 kids a day in Trenton.

“You can’t beat it,” Seiber said. “You can’t go to McDonald’s and eat any cheaper.”

Kids will get nutritious meals, fresh fruits, vegetables from local farmers, and some of their favorites. “Chicken nuggets, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs,” Trenton Elementary Cafeteria Manager Jacqueline Cook said.

Chase Minton, a seventh grader, said he plans to volunteer this summer. “Some kids go home and they don’t have any food, so I thought, ‘well, mom, why don’t we just go and help,’” he said.

Seiber said kids can get free meals at Trenton Elementary School, the Northwest Gibson County YMCA or the Gibson County Memorial Library in Trenton. “Now my parents don’t have to cook over the summer because they’re really busy,” Cam’ron Bonds, a seventh grader, said.

Seiber said 72 percent of kids in the Trenton Special School District receive free or reduced lunch. “Times are hard, so we’re just going to do our part to help,” Seiber said.

Kids can get free breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday. You must be 18 years old or younger.

Parents can also get in on these meals. Breakfast for adults is 75 cents. Lunch costs $3.25 per person.