ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Area graduations have taken place at most high school and colleges, and if classes are not done for the current school year, they soon will be.
This means summer vacation will likewise be under way soon, but whether school is in session or not, the need for food is a constant one.
In the Kismet-Plains USD No. 483 district, meals have been provided in the summertime for several years, and district officials are gearing up once again for this year’s summer meals program to help feed students while they are out of school.
USD 483 School Nurse Norma Sanchez said food is currently being ordered to make sure there are enough supplies and workers to meet the needs for the number of people the program is expected to serve. She said 2024 saw the largest numbers ever for the summer meals program.
“We were serving 300 lunches every single day, and we had breakfast on top of that,” she said. “We had to really prepare for the numbers, which means a lot more cooking, a lot more staff, a lot more resources, but I think we did really well.”
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanchez said she felt program numbers would go down, but she found just the opposite has been happening.
“Our numbers continue to grow, largely in part because our community is well aware of our program, and they’ve become accepting of it,” she said. “We get a lot of families who come to Plains for the summer, and they take advantage. We’re planning and preparing for bigger groups.”
Sanchez said she expects continued growth in the program.
“The goal is to have more kids attend weights,” she said. “That is actually how they get their breakfast. We serve breakfast after weights, so if that number grows, that means we have more kids attending that summer weights program, which is a huge benefit to our athletic program.”
Sanchez added the USD 483 summer meals program is not just for that district’s students.
“There is an app for Kansas meals that gives you information for what towns are serving the free summer food program lunches, and travelers can stop if they’re in the area and serve the children,” she said. “It’s still for children only, so the program is 18 and younger, but if you’re a traveler, you’re coming by Plains and it’s lunch time, you can absolutely stop in and get a meal for your children and go ahead and go.”
This year, breakfast meals will be served from 8:45 to 9 a.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from June 4 through June 27 and July 9 through Aug. 1 in the Southwestern Heights Junior High Commons Area.
Lunch will be served from 11 to 11:30 a.m. May 28 through June 28 and July 8 through Aug. 2 at St. Patrick Catholic Church at 613 Superior Street in Plains and from noon to 12:30 p.m. May 28 through June 28 and July 8 through Aug. 2 at the Kismet Community Pavilion.
Sanchez said all meals are grab and go.
“They don’t sit there and eat it,” she said. “It’s packaged and they take it.”
No meals will be served the week of July 1 through July 5. With the number of meals being served each year being an unknown factor, Sanchez said the summer meals program is initially a learning process.
“That first few weeks and days is scary,” she said. “You don’t want to make so much that you have all this leftover food, but also, you never want to have to turn away kids because you’ve run out of food. At first, it’s pretty tricky to know how many meals you’re going to need. The first few weeks is your gauge, and you go from there. I feel this year, we’re going to be overprepared, and if we have to deal with extra meals, we’ll deal with that.”
The number of students on free and reduced lunches at USD 483 has been high for some time, and Sanchez said it is still high, as about 70 percent of the district’s students qualify for free and reduced lunches. She said this is one of the reasons the summer meals program continues.
“It’s part of our application process to the state,” she said. “They have to know that information. They make sure those needs are met in the state of Kansas. We definitely are glad we can provide for our community.”
Sanchez said meals served as part of the summer meals program are completely covered by taxpayer money.
“It’s a reimbursement break,” she said. “We monitor, calculate and turn into the state the meals that were served, and they reimburse us the money for those meals.”
However, Sanchez said, USD 483 does not get reimbursed for leftovers.
“It’s solely meals served,” she said. “Because it’s state funded, we have to use the state’s guidelines. They’re pretty strict on their nutritional guidelines. Their nutritional guidelines are firm, and we have to stick with that.”
Sanchez said one of the state’s biggest focuses is milk.
“We have to serve milk, and a lot of people don’t like milk or can’t have milk for whatever reason,” she said. “Even if that’s the case, they still have to take the milk, and they can use it for baking or whatever else. We still have to give it to them. I know sometimes, families try to turn away that milk, but we have insist it’s required. Use it to bake or something. That’s been one of our few little obstacles.”
Many USD 483 students live in rural areas of Seward County and Meade County, outside of the Kismet and Plains community, and this makes it difficult to get food to these students. Sanchez said the district has yet to make any progress in reaching those students, particularly those in the Hayne community.
“That’s still something we think about, but at the end of the day, there’s no way for us to target that area unless we hired a driver who would be willing to go out there and drop meals off at the different locations,” she said.
Despite having a decent population, Hayne has houses spread out through many acres, and the community’s distance from either Plains, Kismet or Southwestern Heights adds to the problem if getting foods to those students.
“It’s not like any of those kids are within walking distance to a location,” Sanchez said. “We would have to have a vehicle drive the meals around, and we just don’t have what it takes to do any of that right now.”
At the end of summer 2024, Sanchez said food pantries in Kismet and Plains were struggling to stay stocked.
“They were serving lots of families, and they were really utilizing the resources there,” she said. “I know they had community donations, and I think they got donations from Kansas Food Bank. Our families were really needing food pantry items this year, and at the end of the summer, I know they were running pretty low on that.”
Food gathering around Thanksgiving time, Sanchez said, helped restock pantries somewhat, and that helped with USD 483’s holiday angel tree program.
“They get a box full of food during the Angel Tree distribution, and we get that out of the local food pantry,” she said. “It’s a continual constant give and take of that program.”
The COVID pandemic has been over for some time, and Sanchez said she feels cases are decreasing, and life is returning to normal in her district.
“I feel the fear factor has run its course,” she said. “The severity of illnesses has lessened. Time off, time away, quarantine time, all of that has lessened. We are back to getting into the swing of things, and with that comes improved mental health. Things are coming up and improving.”
Sanchez said this is why she believed the summer meals program would decrease following the pandemic, but the increase has come from families being pleased with the quality of food the program provides.
“So many of our parents are gone throughout the day,” she said. “They work, and they know it’s a good sound, safe meal their kid can have without them having safety factors of them having to fix a meal themselves or just grabbing junk food.”
Sanchez said many USD 483 parents are advocating to their children to pick up their meals from the summer meals program.
“It’s been really helpful to get that help from parents,” she said. “They know it’s a good program. The women who prepare the meals and distribute the meals, they’re great people. They are trustworthy. We’re a small community, so communication between them and families is easy and accessible. That helps our program as well.”
With potential issues of students fixing meals for themselves such as burns from hot stoves, this makes parents advocating for the program an even better idea.
“I feel parents are telling their kids don’t cook if you don’t have to because there’s safety factors there,” she said. “I think that’s a real relief to parents knowing their child doesn’t have to mess with the stove or microwave. That’s some of the feedback we’re getting from families as well.”
Summer meals are cooked under the direction of Plains Elementary head cook Silvia Olvera, who is also a board member for Plains’ grocery store, Grand Avenue Market, and Sanchez said since its inception a few years ago, the store has been a huge help in keeping USD 483 students fed.
“She knows her stuff,” Sanchez said of Olvera. “She is very knowledgeable. “Her meals are the best. She is in that scene heavily as well, and if she ever needs anything, that’s where they go. They get stuff they’re needing through there. Whatever they can order through there, they order through there along with their other food distributors. They utilize that quite a bit, especially when it’s a last minute thing where I’m out of this or that and I have to go pick that up. That’s been pretty big and pretty helpful.”
For more information about the summer meals program, e-mail
“It is a definitely a program we have seen grow through the years, and we understand our families’ needs,” she said. “We understand it is a necessity for our families. The feedback from the community is huge. We often feel it’s something we must be able to sustain.”
The program is sponsored by the Kismet-Plains Recreation Commission, and Sanchez said the commission helps get the program started, maintains it and keeps it going each year.
“They are the ones who have really been the financial support behind this program getting started,” she said. “Eventually, the goal is to have enough money for the program to run itself, but in the meantime, they’ve had to help with costs.”
Sanchez said without the commission’s support, USD 483 could not make the program happen for its communities.
“We are overly grateful and thankful for the Kismet-Plains Rec Commission,” she said.
