MCPS continues decades-old free kids meal program for summer

MISSOULA, Mont. — “Kids Eat Free” — that’s the message from Missoula County Public Schools this summer, as the district is offering lunch and breakfast at multiple locations each weekday, with no questions asked.

The service for kids 18-years-old and younger has been offered for roughly 20 years, serving more than 20,000 meals last summer, Stacey Rossmiller, the district’s food and nutrition services supervisor, said.

Alex Sena and her 6-year-old son, Leroy, took advantage of a free breakfast Tuesday on the program’s second day.

“I don’t have to come in, bring my kids, and they write down my name, and they write down my kids’ numbers. I come in, they don’t ask you anything, and they give you a free meal,” Sena said. “And it’s so important for the community.”

District employees hand out breakfast and lunch five days a week until Aug. 16 at select schools. The four sites are Franklin Elementary, Russell Elementary, Lowell Elementary and Meadow Hill Middle School.

The federal government reimburses the district for the meals through the Montana Office of Public Instruction, Rossmiller told NBC Montana. The district provided roughly 25,000 meals last summer.

“Unfortunately with a lot of kids, when they leave us in the afternoon, they don’t eat until they come back the next day,” she said. “So over the summer there’s a huge need for those kids to still have something to eat.”

Sena works in the Meadow Hill Middle School cafeteria, where lunch is served whether kids have money in their account or not.

“And they are worried about coming in, and that should not be something that a child has to worry about,” Sena said. “And when you come into school, the only thing you should be worrying about is school.”

Current lunch options include a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a meat and cheese sandwich. Fruit and vegetables are included, along with milk and a treat, Rossmiller told NBC Montana. The district will begin offering hot entrees next week, every day for lunch and on Wednesdays and Fridays for breakfast.

Breakfast this summer will be served from 8:30 to 10 a.m., and lunch is ready from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.