Lunch program grows

There’s a little bit less hunger in Jay County thanks to a highly successful summer lunch program operated again this year by Jay Schools.
“We’ve doubled our lunch numbers in the four years we’ve done it,” said Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome.
Food service director Karmella VanSkyock said a total of 10,435 lunches were served this summer during the federally-funded, seven week program.
That compares with 5,274 lunches in 2010, the first year of the program’s operation.
A total of 2,109 snacks have been served.
Jay Schools operated open sites — where anyone could stop by — at Judge Haynes, Westlawn, Redkey, Pennville, and General Shanks elementary schools.
Judge Haynes Elementary School served the highest number of lunches, with Westlawn Elementary School finishing second.
In addition, the program provided snacks for the KIPS kindergarten readiness program at Jay County Public Library, lunches and snacks for the Jay Community Center’s summer day camp and refreshments for the Jay County High School summer band program.
While the open sites have completed their work for the summer, the community center and library will continue to be serviced through the first week of August.
Employing 15 people, the project is funded by $39,000 in federal money administered by the state of Indiana.[[In-content Ad]]