ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Late May and early June means area schools have finished school for the year, and with summer vacation comes time for fun and relaxation for young people.
No matter what else they do during the summer, though, like everyone else, youth need to eat, and with parents working in many households, children and teenagers are left to fend for themselves to find food.
For years, USD 483 has been helping its students find sustenance with its summer meals program. This year’s program is scheduled to kick off Monday, and School Nurse Norma Sanchez said while meals remain of the grab and go variety, the location for the Plains community has changed for this year.
“They’re going to have to pick them up at Plains Elementary School this year,” she said. “The school was gracious enough to allow us to use their facilities for the program, which is great for our cooking staff because the amount of meals we’re making now is just overwhelming.”
Meals in Plains were previously available at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, but Sanchez said the church’s kitchen is no longer large enough to accommodate the number of meals needed for the program.
“We are really excited to have a bigger space for the cooks to use so they can make all these meals,” she said. “We were serving sometimes 350 lunches last year, and we have that same expectation for this year.”
In addition to Plains, youth will be able to grab meals at the Pavilion on Main Street in Kismet. Lunch will be available from 11 to 11:30 a.m. June 1 through 26 and July 6 through 31 at PES and from noon to 12:30 p.m. on those dates at the Pavilion.
Breakfast will also be available from 8:30 to 8:45 a.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from June 2 through 25 and July 7 through 10 at Southwestern Heights Junior High. No meals will be served the week of June 29 through July 3.
Sanchez said the meals are open to more than just USD 483 students.
“We are welcoming anyone else to come get meals too,” she said. “Even though we’re serving our community, we know our neighboring towns’ needs. Their program is not up and going, so if a Meade kid shows up and wants a meal, we’re going to gladly oblige him and give him one.”
For 2025, Sanchez said the program averaged 350 lunches a day for June, and she said historically, that number decreases slightly for July.
“We get less traffic just because people go on vacation, or they go out of town,” she said. “We don’t see as many kids in July, but definitely for the month of June, we have a line.”
Sanchez said with young people being familiar with the meals served and the cooks themselves, making the transition to the summer meals program is a comfortable one.
“Our kids are very comfortable with going and picking up their lunches, and we will allow one family member to pick up the lunches for their siblings,” she said. “We have a roster of families in our community, and we know if you have three siblings at home. We know you’re going to pick up for you and your siblings, and we keep track of that on a roster. Because it is grab and go, it is pretty convenient for families to be able to pick that up, take it home and eat it.”
The summer meals program has been run for many years now, and Sanchez said increased growth has been seen from the start.
“We haven’t slowed down yet,” she said. “Our numbers continue to increase every year, and last year was definitely the biggest number we had seen yet, which was surprising because it just made me realize we do have that many kids. Those numbers were Kismet and Plains combined.”
Many of USD 483’s students live in more rural parts of the district, including Hayne, and Sanchez said if workers were able to reach kids in that community, they would be serviced as well.
“We continue to see that rise, and I think it’s because the word has spread,” she said. “It’s an established program, and families are telling their kids, ‘Make sure you go get your lunch, I have to work today.’ We’ve just seen that number increase as this program has continued.”
As for reaching students in the more rural parts of the district, Sanchez said officials have still not figured out a way to accomplish this.
“We would have to hire someone who’s willing to go out and take meals out,” she said. “We don’t have the funds for that. We don’t have the volunteers for that. We’re at a standstill, but what I’ve told families is if somebody can come pick up meals, bring those kids, and they can pick up for their families. Let’s say you have one driver and three family members. Those family members can take those meals home for their siblings. I know it’s not convenient, but it’s still an option if they really needed to get those meals.”
Sanchez said USD 483’s numbers for free and reduced lunches remain steady at around 70 percent, and she said this is what makes the district qualified for the summer meals program.
“We know we’re servicing a need, especially with groceries and gas going up,” she said. “We hope this can be helpful to our families, not only that, but it’s a well made meal that’s hot, and it’s not just a cold sandwich. It’s a well balanced hot meal. These cooks are making some great meals, and I think that’s not only well appreciated, but nutritionally speaking, it’s so good for them.”
The Plains community also recently saw the closure of Grand Avenue Market, that town’s lone grocery store. As the closing took place only a couple months ago, Sanchez said it is still a little early to see how not having a store will affect the summer meals program.
“It’s going to be an adjustment either way,” she said. “I know there was a lot of foot traffic to the grocery store when we had it, and by not having that, we definitely notice that foot traffic not being as prevalent.”
Sanchez said what will be most missed with the absence of a grocery store is the access to fresh produce and meat.
“That’s what’s really hard in our town,” she said. “Things like that, it affects the quality of nutrition. Oftentimes, the packaged stuff, the processed stuff, it’s not as healthy, and if that’s what you got, that’s what you eat. It’s going to affect that. It’s a little too soon to see the effects of that, but I’m sure we’ll start to see that.”
Helping with the need for meals, Sanchez said food pantries in the Plains community are looking good at this time.
“Our community is gracious, and they are great to stock those food pantries up,” she said. “They’re really going and servicing families with the food pantries. Our food pantries receive donations from different organizations like the Kansas Food Pantry. There’s meat available now too. Our food pantries are looking good. In the summer, they get utilized more. When we hear of a need in our food pantry, our community tends to get together and help that need as much as possible.”
Sanchez too said parents are great about advocating for the summer meals program.
“We hear continually from them about how much they appreciate that service,” she said. “We’ve heard things that are just wonderful. It’s great to know one thing they don’t have to worry about is their kid getting a meal.”
Sanchez said district officials are proud of the program not only because it serves families, but it also comes with much pride.
“Our cooks put love into what they cook,” she said. “They walk in their. They talk to them. They appreciate them. They want them to know they need to come get these meals. You need to make sure you have a hot lunch. They’re not doing it for the sake of the numbers. They’re doing it to feed the kids.”
Sanchez said cooks are wonderful, putting much time and care into the program.
“Our head cook who’s been ordering things, she’s been working on this for the last few weeks preparing menus and ordering things, making sure they’re ready to go once that day comes,” she said. “This isn’t something that just happens. It takes a lot of behind the scenes stuff like paperwork to the state, shopping and organizing, making sure you’re meeting state and federal guidelines. Things like that are important, and the people we have in place doing those are doing a great job with those different requirements they have to meet.”
Sanchez said community support is the number one factor in making the summer meals program possible, as she said no project can be done without it.
“Once you have that support and people willing to put in the time, effort, work, getting the paperwork, getting the organizational stuff, that comes in,” she said. “You have plenty of people who are going to help get you there with those things. There’s training involved the state makes you do. There’s paperwork. Those things will come.”
Sanchez said these can easily be done and complied with, but having support and people not only working the program but also encouraging others to spread the word and make sure people know the program is available is quite helpful too.
“This resource is amazing,” she said. “That is so important. That is probably the biggest most important thing for us. We can make the most elaborate meals on the planet, but it doesn’t make a difference if nobody shows up.”
For more information about the USD 483 summer meals program, e-mail Sanchez at
