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Forty-three meals were served at the noon hour today at La Ballona Elementary on Opening Day of the first Free Summer Lunch program in the history of the Culver City School District.
Both Supt. Dave LaRose and District Food Supervisor Julie Garcia emphasized that it is neither a high nor a low number, merely a neutral one.
They had no idea how many hungry mouths, owned by students 18 and under, would report to the campus between the 11:30 start and 12:30 finish.
To be prepared, a dozen volunteers fanned out on the grounds.
“Word of mouth ultimately is going to be our most powerful form of advertisement,” Mr. LaRose said, “not only about the free lunch but all of the activities we will offer for an additional half-hour for the next six weeks. As word gets out about all that is going on, we will expect more students.”
The No. 1 motivation is to provide nutrition for children whose stomachs may be growling, and secondarily appeal to their desire to play – mentally or physically – after their hearty meal.
Firefighters and their trucks were one of today’s attractions.
Mr. LaRose did not expect the La Ballona lunch room to be flooded on this day because with the regular school year having just ended, campus might be the last destination on their minds.
Ms. Garcia, chief of the lunch room, said that 33 percent of the School District’s 6,000-plus students qualify for the government-defined free-and-reduced lunch program during the school term, one of the main reasons Mr. LaRose wanted to introduce the concept to Culver City.
The Needed Numbers
To qualify for the reimbursable summer free lunch program, the site, she said, must have a minimum of 50 percent of students eligible for free-and-reduced. La Ballona easily meets the threshold with 63 percent.
“This is the only school in the District over 50 percent,” Ms. Garcia said.
The lowest is El Marino Language School, under 10 percent.
“The rest of the schools,” said Ms. Garcia, “fall between 15 and 30 percent. The Middle School might be a little higher, 40 percent.”
To publicize the free lunches, flyers were sent home with all elementary students, and some of them may even have reached parents.
Following a widely prescribed children’s menu concept, five items are offered, starting today with a bean-and-cheese burrito. “You have protein in the beans and cheese, and your bread in the tortilla,” Ms. Garcia said. “We have carrots and tomatoes, two vegetable options, apples for fresh fruit, and whole milk, non-fat milk, low-fat milk and non-fat chocolate milk.”
The menu rotates every two weeks. Tomorrow’s eye-catcher is breaded chicken on whole grain bread to go with fresh nectarines, vegetables and “there will always be milk. The menu varies. Next Tuesday it will be a grilled chicken sandwich. Wednesday it is a hot dog. One day is grilled cheese. Even corn dogs with catsup and mustard” – plus, no doubt, a free napkin.
A most interesting sidelight is the numbers game. There is no daily goal.
“I want as many children as want to come,” Ms. Garcia said. “If 20 want to come today, 40 kids want to come Tuesday and 10 on Wednesday, it is 10 kids who are getting a lunch they might not get otherwise. And I know they are getting a nutritional meal.”
