Where to get 2024 free summer meals for kids in Salem, Keizer
Families with kids 18 and under can get free meals at eight schools in Salem and Keizer starting Monday, June 24.
The Salem-Keizer School District is providing food for curbside pick-up from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays through Aug. 28.
Lunches will be packed with two meals per pack. Families can get up to three packs per pickup while supplies last, and children do not need to be physically present for families to get food, the district said.
Schools offering meals are:
- Auburn Elementary School
- Hoover Elementary School
- Kennedy Elementary Schools
- Liberty Elementary School
- Morningside Elementary School
- Stephens Middle School
- Waldo Middle School
- Walker Middle School
The district previously offered onsite meals at schools during the summer, but shifted to pickup during the pandemic.
“Based on both an effort to support staff and families, this is a structure that we have found to work well,” said district spokeswoman Emily Reverman in an email. “Having two days of pick up to receive the same amount of meals packs has worked well to limit the number of times families have to physically come to meal sites each week.”
The program is paid for out of the district’s general fund and isn’t covered by federal or state grants. Oregon only covers the cost of summer meals if they’re offered onsite, not for pickup.
Reverman said because of those requirements, the district budgeted up to $200,000 in its general fund, which pays for most school operations, to cover the cost of summer meals.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.
