To make healthy meals available to children during summer break, the County will host a free weekday lunch and afternoon snack program at three Gwinnett County parks by partnering with the non-profit Georgia Nutritional Services, Inc.
The USDA Summer Food Service Program will be available for children age 18 and younger plus anyone age 19 and older with a physical or mental disability. The program is open to about 140 summer campers and the public. Meals for Kids is the food vendor for the program.
The meals program will be offered at Best Friend Park Gym, 6224 Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross; Lilburn Activity Building, 788 Hillcrest Road in Lilburn; and Rhodes Jordan Park, 100 East Crogan Street in Lawrenceville. All three parks are in close proximity to a transit bus stop for easy access.
Lunch will be served weekdays from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm and snack from 2:30 pm to 3:00 pm. The program will operate June 3 through August 2 except for July 1-5.
The federally funded nutrition reimbursement program ensures that children from low-income areas receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. Program sites are all in the Board of Education school clusters where more than 50 percent of students get free or reduced lunch. Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning is the state administrator, approving sponsors and sites and issuing funds.
When school starts again next fall, Gwinnett Community Services will offer a new K-5 After School Program until 6:30 pm at Taylor, Rocks Springs, and Walnut Grove Elementary Schools in partnership with the Collins Hill Education Foundation.
The program offers social development, homework/tutoring time, supervised physical activity, academic enrichment/STEM, and a snack. The scalable format of the program is designed to be repeatable in other clusters. No transportation is needed and classrooms can be added as the program grows.
I’m proud and grateful that we’re able to offer these programs to help keep Gwinnett children safe and healthy over the summer and during after school hours.
