Heart BEAT

Summer Food Program Feeds Students For Free

DAYTON -- For many students the end of the school year means no more homework or tests, but for some, it also means the end of accessible breakfast and lunches.

The Dayton School District summer food program was created with the aim to help these students. It provides free breakfasts and lunches to anyone younger than 19 years old and they don't even have to be enrolled in any pro- grams. This year, the pro- gram started on Monday, June 18 and serves break- fast from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and lunch from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. summer food program cook Becky Kes- singer said. The meals are served at Dayton Elemen- tary School.

Andy Maheras, the Dayton High School principal and summer food program volunteer, said the district puts the program on and it's partially funded through a community coalition and through Blue Mountain Counseling.

"Most days we have about 90 students for breakfast and about 120 for lunch," Maheras said. "It's a good thing we have it."

He added that the pro- gram was created as an effort to provide local kids with something eat and to help ease some of the bur- den local families carry in the weak economic climate.

Maheras said they near- ly ran out of food one day last week, which is a pretty good indicator of how successful the program has been.

Kessinger said she has been working for the pro- gram for about 12 years.

"I love it, it's really fun," Kessinger said.

She said this year Maheras himself has been coming in to volunteer with the program because it has grown so much.

Students and siblings Josiah and Alyssa White both expressed appre- ciation for the program on Monday, July 2, during the lunch hour.

"This program is great," Josiah said excitedly.

The students were joined by their peers and shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Monday, there was a line winding around the multipurpose room full of students of all ages waiting to pick up lunch.

Maheras said the program serves almost all of the summer school students and about 70 of Blue Mountain Counseling's summer recreation program kids. About 25 or more kids from the community, not currently enrolled in either summer school or the summer recreation programs, also turn out for meals.

While Maheras said he thinks the program is great, providing hot meals to local kids who might otherwise not have them and relieving at least a little pressure on some local families, he doesn't feel like much of a hero.

"It's not a big hassle for me, just something I added to my pile," Mah- eras said. "For me, it's just part of the job."

Kessinger said this year the program will end on July 13 but she hopes the program will receive more funding next year to run the food program later into the summer.

Free Breakfast

& Lunch For

Dayton Students

7:30 a.m. Breakfast

11:30 a.m. Lunch

Dayton Elementary

Through June 13