Summer lunch program is looking for sites across Beaufort County

Nearly 10,000 Beaufort County children are eligible to receive free lunches this summer and the county is searching for community organizations to host the meals.

Using money from a federal program, Beaufort County Parks and Leisure Services provides lunch to children in low-income areas Monday through Friday from June 15 to Aug. 7.

About 50 percent of the school district’s 19,500 students qualify, based on family income and household size.

“The purpose of the program is to provide meals for those students who normally get meals during the school year,” said Andy Stevenson, county nutrition coordinator. “ . . . When school closes, they don’t have that opportunity”.

Meals are prepared at school cafeterias and delivered to summer camps, churches, schools, low-income housing developments and other groups that serve low-income children.

Families across the county — from Sheldon Township to Hilton Head Island — use the service, which has been available in Beaufort County for more than 30 years.

“We see a tremendous need, and sometimes we can’t reach everyone we should,” Stevenson said.

He hopes to serve at least 5 percent more meals this year than last, when the county served 80,022 meals at 52 locations. To serve more meals, Stevenson said more locations are needed. The ideal location, he said, would allow students to walk to the site for lunch.

Sites are specifically needed near Jenkins and Big Estate in northern Beaufort County. But Stevenson also said sites are in short supply across all of Beaufort County.

For the past several years, county Boys and Girls clubs have served as program sites. They will continue to host the meals this summer.

“The program has supplied the needs of kids who would normally go hungry,” said Samuel Burke, director of the Beaufort club. “I’m glad we have it. Otherwise, the majority of these kids would not be able to have a balanced lunch, composed of a fruit and the real necessities of nutrition.”

Joyce Wright, director of the Hilton Head Boys and Girls Club, said the lunches students bring from home are sometimes unhealthy. “You can tell when, at the end of the week, (the) food is running low,” she said. “It is very hard when you’re on a budget. You try to get the (food) that is most filling, and it may not always be the most nutritious thing.”

Federal money pays for the summer lunch program, which is coordinated through state and local governments.

The program costs about $280,000 in Beaufort County, including the cost of meals and paying employees to prepare and deliver them, Stevenson said.