Carmel, Indiana — The Department of Education provided free meals because parents lost their jobs and also because of food shortages across the country. But free breakfast and lunch at school are in limbo as we settle back into normal from the pandemic.
According to Staff with Carmel schools, they don’t know when the government will make up their minds to continue with the free meals or not. That’s why teachers at West Clay Elementary are prepared for the worst.
Students and staff at the school have donated food to help students during the summer, through the Carmel Summer Meals Program. “It makes me happy to see how much people care about people who don’t have food to eat,” said Kaavya Jethava, a 5th grader at West Clay.
Reese Ramsay, her classmate agreed. “Please bring in food for kids who need it,” explained Ramsay. “I know If you really needed food, you’d probably want people to help you too.”
The Carmel Youth Assistance Program helped the school connect families with resources. During the summer of 2020, they helped 520 students get meals. In 2021, that number dropped to 376 students.
According to Melissa Yarger, an early intervention advocate with the program, they anticipate an increase in need once Emergency SNAP benefits end in June. “I’m a little nervous. I think that we’ll see between 370 and 400 kids sign up for the program,” said Yarger.
The free meals have provided a dramatic increase in students who eat breakfast, the principal at West Clay Elementary, Jill Schipp, said.
“It’s been fun explaining to the kids why we’re collecting this food and so we are trying to collect as much food as possible,” said Schipp.
