Summer feeding program begins Monday

Officials suggest ways to use city wheels to get to summer meals

Jefferson City summer feeding sites include (1) the playground in the 1000 block of Buena Vista St., accessible by JeffTran's Missouri Boulevard (yellow) or Southwest (blue) lines; (2) the Dorothy Pack Community Center, 1306 Edmonds St., accessible by the Missouri Boulevard bus line (yellow); (3) the corner of Elm and Chestnut streets, accessible by the Missouri Boulevard (yellow), Southwest (blue), High East (green), High West (red) and Business 50 East (purple) lines; and (4) the Boys & Girls Club, 1105 Lafayette St., accessible by the Missouri Boulevard line (yellow).
Jefferson City summer feeding sites include (1) the playground in the 1000 block of Buena Vista St., accessible by JeffTran's Missouri Boulevard (yellow) or Southwest (blue) lines; (2) the Dorothy Pack Community Center, 1306 Edmonds St., accessible by the Missouri Boulevard bus line (yellow); (3) the corner of Elm and Chestnut streets, accessible by the Missouri Boulevard (yellow), Southwest (blue), High East (green), High West (red) and Business 50 East (purple) lines; and (4) the Boys & Girls Club, 1105 Lafayette St., accessible by the Missouri Boulevard line (yellow).

Now that summer school in the Jefferson City School District is over, families in need might be wondering not only where their children can go to get a meal but also how they're going to get there.

All of Jefferson City's public schools with summer students would feed any school-age child who walked in the door for breakfast and lunch, even if they weren't enrolled in summer school. Bus-eligible summer students also received free transportation, which is a need some families may not be able to afford on their own.

With school doors now closed for the rest of the summer, Stacey Brown of the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri said the Food Bank's summer feeding program will begin Monday and run through Aug. 16, five days a week for lunch from noon-1 p.m.

Brown is the children's programs coordinator for the Food Bank, which works with 132 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other agencies across a 32-county area.

She told the News Tribune last month that the Food Bank will have four distribution points in Jefferson City: the playground in the 1000 block of Buena Vista Street; the Westview Heights cul de sac at Collier Court; Elston Acres Trailer Park; and the corner of Elm and Chestnut streets.

These are not the only food-distribution points in the city; YMCA and Boys & Girls Club programs will provide lunch and afternoon snacks too, and those details will be listed in detail below as well.

Given many of the known sites are in the central area of Jefferson City, transportation officials and city planners provided the News Tribune with a guide for people on how to use the city's buses to get to these locations from areas farther away.

There are some detours to a couple of those routes because of road construction. Through Aug. 15, the detour on the city's Southwest bus line will be as follows: as the bus travels down Monroe Street toward Capital Region Medical Center, the detour starts with a right turn onto Franklin Street, from which the bus turns left onto Madison Street, then onto the ramp to U.S. 54, to Jefferson Street, then to Southridge Drive, then back to its normal route.

At Delaware Street and Missouri Boulevard, the bus will also turn left onto the Boulevard, right onto Dunklin Street, then right on Madison, left to Franklin, right onto Monroe, left onto Stadium Boulevard and then it's back on its original route.

The High Street East bus line is currently on a detour and will have an additional detour after July 3: Currently, the bus follows its normal route to Tanner Bridge Road and Christy Drive, where it crosses Christy, turns right onto U.S. 54, takes the Madison exit, turns left onto Franklin, and currently turns right on Jefferson Street.

After July 3, while on Franklin the bus will instead turn left onto Jefferson, then right on Stadium, right onto Carter Street and right on Swifts Highway, from which it will resume its normal route.

Full fare information can be found at jeffersoncitymo.gov/government/transit/fares.php, but generally, regular fares are $1 per ride, transfers are free, and children under the age of 6 years old ride for free when they are accompanied by an adult. Fare is reduced to 50 cents per ride for persons who are 60 years old or older, have disabilities or have Medicare and have submitted an application to the city.

Stephanie Johnson, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Jefferson City, said, "Transportation is always an issue" in terms of access. Johnson said during the school year, the club picks up almost all the children who use its services, but in the summertime, once summer school and associated busing ends, children have had to get to them by being dropped off or walking.

In terms of need for summer access to food, over the course of last summer, Brown said the Food Bank's program served 4,789 children. The summer before, 4,088 children were served. This year, the Food Bank is anticipating at least 5,000.

This year's latest report from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) found Missouri was one of 10 states that provided summer lunches to fewer than one out of every 10 children last July - 9.7 out of every 100. By comparison, the top performing state of New Mexico reached 35.8 percent of its children with summer lunches, and the District of Columbia reached 48.8 percent.

FRAC is a national organization "working for more effective public and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and undernutrition," its website describes.

FRAC's 2017 report also noted Missouri was one of four states that had a particularly steep drop off in the number of lunches served in July compared to June - June being when summer school is in session and when Missouri served twice as many meals.

Brown said if there are leftovers and only after all children have been served, accompanying adults who'd like a meal can take one at the Food Bank's distribution sites. The sack lunches will consist of a sandwich - like ham and cheese, turkey and cheese, or peanut butter and jelly - fresh fruit or vegetables and a snack item, like cookies, a granola bar or fruit snacks.

These are the full details of some local summer food distribution sites:

  • The Boys & Girls Club, 1105 Lafayette St., hot lunch from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and an afternoon snack at 3 p.m., Friday-Aug. 4 (for anyone 18 years old and younger), Monday-Friday.
  • The Dorothy Pack Community Center, 1306 Edmonds St., hot lunch from noon-1 p.m. and an afternoon snack at 3 p.m., July 5-Aug. 4, Monday-Friday. People with questions about this site or the Boys & Girls Club main site can call 634-2582.
  • The Firley YMCA, 525 Ellis Blvd., lunch from 11:30 a.m.-noon and an afternoon snack from 3-3:30 p.m., through July 28, Monday-Friday.
  • The Knowles YMCA, 424 Stadium Blvd., lunch from 10:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. and an afternoon snack from 3-4:30 p.m, through Aug.11, Monday-Friday. The DHSS's website describes the site as camps for kindergarteners, and first- through third-graders. For more information, contact Jessica Kever at 573-761-3196.
  • The playground in the 1000 block of Buena Vista Street, lunch from noon-1 p.m., Monday-Aug. 16, Monday-Friday.
  • The corner of Elm and Chestnut streets, lunch from noon-1 p.m., Monday-Aug. 16, Monday-Friday.
  • The Westview Heights cul de sac at Collier Court, lunch from noon-1 p.m., Monday-Aug. 16, Monday-Friday.
  • Elston Acres Trailer Park, lunch from noon-1 p.m., Monday-Aug. 16, Monday-Friday.
  • Outside of the Jefferson City area:
  • First Baptist Church of Eldon, 209 S. Aurora St., lunch 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m., through Aug. 11, Monday-Friday.
  • Linn Elementary School, 1212 E. Main St., breakfast 7:30-8:30 a.m. and lunch 10:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., through Thursday, Monday-Thursday.