City of Oakland aims to give out 120,000 lunches to kids over summer break: Here's how
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- It's the first week of summer break for students in Oakland.
Amid rising prices at the grocery store, sometimes a warm lunch at school is the only meal a student will get during the day.
But, what happens during the summer?
"Any child within the community is welcome to show up and receive a meal," Michael Akanji, Manager of the Oakland Summer Food Service Program said.
Starting this week, more than 50 sites for the City of Oakland's Summer Food Service Program have opened at places where kids are already spending their summers.
This includes churches, summer camps, recreation centers and community centers across the area.
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Program Manager Michael Akanji says this comes at a time when 35,000 kids already rely on free or reduced lunches in Oakland alone during the school year.
"I do see the issue of food insecurity, I've witnessed it up close I've seen several food deserts and the lack of accessibility to fresh nutrition," Akanji said.
That's why their goal is to serve more than 120,000 meals over the next few months. "That hot lunch is what families depend on during the school year because of what's going on, the inflation, prices are going up, it's hard to pay bills nowadays," Brunilda Ayala, a Liaison Monitor for the Oakland Summer Lunch Program said.
Ayala spends her weekdays racing between at least a dozen sites a day to make sure no child goes hungry.
"Especially kids, especially our little ones, they cannot function without food and I'm going to do all that I can and the rest of my team to help provide these meals for these kids," Ayala said.
And these meals, already come individually wrapped so students can grab and go or eat right here on site.
"We try to make the food tasty and culturally accessible, it's not just a chance for them to meet the nutritional requirements but also to learn about new cultures and try new foods, expand their pallets," Akanji said.
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The Oakland Unified School District has a summer food service program available on school sites too.
The only difference is these meals are supplemented by the city's Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Distribution Tax that was passed by voters in 2016.
"By as much as $2 per meal for the lunches so this ensures larger, more nutritious portions," he said.
Akanji says the program is primarily funded by a $426,870 grant from the California Department of Education.
"We want to make sure our community and our kids are fed, no questions asked," Ayala said.
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Most of their sites also host a snack hour from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the afternoon.
The program wraps up the second week of August when kids head back to school.
For a full list of participating sites, click here.
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