It is 9 a.m. on June 25 inside Goose Creek Elementary’s cafeteria, and Child Nutrition Services staff members are already hard at work getting everything in place to start serving lunch at 10:30 a.m. as part of the Summer Meals program.
On the lunch menu is steak fingers, cheesy mashed potatoes, corn, yeast roles, peaches and strawberries – and the aroma is enough to stir up someone’s appetite.
Kasee McKenzie is normally the manager for Philip Simmons High’s cafeteria, but for the summer she is serving as the manager of Goose Creek Elementary’s summer feeding site. Every day, CNS staff at the school prepare lunches for upwards of 300 for students who are participating in summer camps at the school, students who are participating in Goose Creek High’s football summer training program, and families who may be food-insecure at home.
“We are trying to bridge the gap between students who don’t have food at home, and make sure we’re still able to provide them with meals – even when school is not in session,” McKenzie said.
The Seamless Summer Option (SSO) allows school districts to provide free summer meals in low-income areas during the traditional summer vacation periods. It is an extension of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Free breakfast and lunch meals that meet Federal nutrition guidelines are provided to all children and teens at approved SSO sites (see list of BCSD sites below).
The best part: it is completely free to families with school-aged children.
The program will run through Friday, July 24, with hot meals being served Monday through Friday each week. Breakfast is served from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and lunch is served from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
Please be advised: sites will be closed in observance of the 4th of July on Friday, July 3. Site locations are also subject to change.
USDA guidelines state that the meals need to be eaten on-site; children cannot take the food with them – unless it is something like a bag of chips or leftover fresh fruit. McKenzie said staff will send students home with some fruit bags, which is nice healthy option for students to have with them for the weekend.
McKenzie said since she primarily works in a high school, she enjoys getting to see some younger students pass through the cafeteria at Goose Creek Elementary to get their breakfast or lunch.
“I love knowing that my job really does make a difference – working in a public school, it doesn’t matter what position you’re in, you’re really changing the world,” she said.
CNS staff usually get to the school at 6:30 a.m. to start prepping breakfast so it’s ready for 7:30 a.m. walk-ins and campers. While breakfast is being served, staff will get a head start on prepping breakfast for the next day, and then pivot to start working on lunch. They make lunch boxes to be delivered for the high school football students and, up until the end of June, they were doing the same for summer school students at Sedgefield Middle.
In the midst of serving healthy meals, McKenzie said cafeterias are also introducing new food items to students; fried rice is a new option being tried out on the students to see if they like it (so far so good). Orange chicken continues to be a favorite dish among the students – this one is already featured on lunch menus.
“That is, without a doubt, a best seller – no matter what school you’re in,” McKenzie said, adding she herself has experienced mixing the orange chicken with some fried rice. “It’s good enough for a restaurant – I like it.”
From her experience in the Summer Meals program, McKenzie said the parents she has interacted with have expressed gratitude and appreciation for having the summer feeding sites as a resource.
“We love it,” McKenzie said. “When you get into (Child) Nutrition, that’s pretty much the whole point: it’s feeding babies and making sure they’re getting what they need, and that is the best part of the job. It really makes all of it worth it.”
Outside groups, such as churches and other non-profits, can apply to receive meals from open sites this summer. The application is available on the Child Nutrition Website, where families can also find summer breakfast and lunch menus.
Locations
Berkeley Middle School - 320 North Live Oak Drive, Moncks Corner, SC 29461
Cross High School - 1293 Old Hwy 6, Cross, SC 29436
Devon Forest Elementary School - 1127 Dorothy Street, Goose Creek, SC 29445
Foxbank Elementary School - 169 Foxbank Plantation Blvd, Moncks Corner, SC 29461
Goose Creek Elementary School - 200 Foster Creek Road, Goose Creek, SC 29445
Philip Simmons Elementary School - 2095 Seven Sticks Drive, Wando, SC 29492
St. Stephen Elementary School - 1053 Russellville Road, St. Stephen, SC 29479
Westview Primary School - 98 Westview Boulevard, Goose Creek, SC 29445