CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — The work for Nutrition Services at the Charleston County School District doesn’t stop when the school year ends. They work to feed students year-round through multiple summer nutrition programs.
“There’s 30 million students in public schools who qualify for free or reduced price meals,” said Jeremy Tunstall, Nutrition Services Officer for CCSD. “That represents 60% of the enrolled public school students. That number has grown a little bit over the years, so the problem of food insecurity is not going away.”
From public libraries and schools to parks and churches, there are opportunities for students to receive free meals and snacks throughout the summer in Charleston County.
“It stands to reason, if they need those meals during the school year, that problem does not go away in the summer,” Tunstall said.
CCSD Nutrition Services is working to bridge this summer nutrition gap for students through the Summer Meals Program and the Summer Bundles Program.
“I’ll say that proudly, that [no one] is doing as much as Charleston County School District in terms of having sites that they can go to get a daily breakfast or lunch meal, or with our Summer Bundles program where families can go and pick up seven days worth of meals,” Tunstall said.
The Summer Meals Program is giving away free breakfast and lunch at 107 sites throughout the county, 36 of which are “open” sites, meaning they are open to the public and no sign-up is required. A full list of the sites can be found here.
Nutrition Services is also running a separate program for the third time, offering Summer Bundle Meals. These are frozen packaged meals for pick up once a week in rural locations throughout the county. The summer bundle meal program cannot be combined with the other program. Sign ups for the summer bundle program can be found here and view pick up locations here.
“It helps parents when [they are] so used to your kids going to school and getting lunch and having all of those things. So I mean, as a parent myself, I definitely appreciate that we do this for everybody and anybody that wants to take advantage of it,” said Michelle Mustian, Nutrition Services Officer for CCSD.
Both programs are available for students 18 and under and no income requirements or prequalification are required. In total, nine libraries throughout Charleston County offer free snacks, lunches, and breakfasts students can enjoy while at the libraries.
“We know that in our rural areas, especially transportation is an issue. There are a lot of barriers to accessing food and our rural areas are often food deserts or there’s low food access. So making sure that we can offer meals and snacks and our rural branches that are community hubs that our community members are already visiting in the summer is really important,” said Associate Director of Community Engagement Charleston County Public Library Kathleen Montgomery. A full list of the Summer Feeding sites can be found here.
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Lowcountry Food Bank is also partnering with CCSD and CCPL to feed those in need.
“We fill the gaps,” Jennifer Dewitt, Chief Community Programs Officer Lowcountry Foodbank, said. “Charleston County Libraries partners with the school district to try to serve as many of their locations as possible to ensure kiddos have access to meals during the summer, and where CCSD cannot serve we try to fill the gaps.” Lowcountry Food Bank will serve snacks and lunch at the Edisto Library, McClellanville library and the St. Paul Hollywood library.
Lowcountry Food Bank has 240 partner agencies and has food available for kids and their families through food pantries. You can find a full list of food pantries here. Lowcountry Food Bank also has 20 additional summer meal sites that can be found here.
Summer nutrition pogroms are open Monday through Friday at most locations now through July 25th with the exception of the 4th of July.