Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 24, 1994 TAG: 9405240049
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Any child between age 2 and 18 - regardless of family economic status - can receive a meal for no charge by showing up at a mid-day distribution location.
School children taking summer classes will be eligible. So will participants in summer parks and recreation programs, residents of housing complexes and church groups.
Income-based qualifications for the federally funded program are broad because its goal is to reach as many malnourished children as possible, said Michael Marcenelle, supervisor of food programs for county schools.
"We have needy children out there. Possibly the only good meals they get are during the year at school. But what are they getting in the summertime? Who is feeding them?" he asked.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the program will reimburse county schools for all costs - food, preparation, transportation and labor. No local money will be spent.
Since 1983 the program has been run by the Montgomery County Office on Youth. With county schools taking over for the first time, organizers expect the program to be larger and more cost-effective.
Marcenelle doesn't know how many children will be fed by the program, which will run from late June until schools reopen in August. Last year's program averaged 150 lunches daily.
Potentially, the number could be big. Under program eligibility guidelines - based on income data derived from the 1990 census - the entire town of Blacksburg qualifies.
According to the state Department of Education, the program is intended for "areas where poor economic conditions exist."
Marcenelle said the figures are probably skewed by Blacksburg's large population of college students, who make the town seemed poorer on a per capita basis than it truly is.
It's ironic that white-collar Blacksburg - of all places in Montgomery County - earned a blanket qualification, Marcenelle acknowledged.
And Town Manager Ron Secrist chalked it up to a "quirk" in the census data, the same quirk that made Montgomery County eligible to apply for a $2.95 million federal enterprise community grant to assist local governments with long-range planning.
The two programs are the only ones he is aware of that originated out of the skewed statistics.
While he doesn't shun the eligibility, of the census data Secrist said: "I don't think it helps us in terms of industrial recruitment and economic development. We always asterisk a lot of our data" that the town forwards to companies, noting the student population.
"We have needy people in Blacksburg, too," Marcenelle said. "My goal is to reach all of the needy kids, regardless of where they live."
Marcenelle has arranged for weekday lunches to be served to summer school students at Elliston-Lafayette Elementary School, Christiansburg Middle School, Christiansburg High School and Falling Branch Elementary.
Also scheduled to participate are sites at Montgomery County Parks and Recreation programs and the Old Farm Village housing complex in Christiansburg.
So far, no site has been negotiated for Blacksburg. Criteria allow any nonprofit, residential location that can guarantee a minimum daily attendance of children or students to sign up.
Day-care facilities and residential camps are ineligible, Marcenelle said.
As long as they fall within the age guidelines, program participants do not need to be involved with summer school or any other program, Marcenelle said. "If you just walk by during the serving time you can come in and have lunch."
On the other hand, participation in the program is not mandatory, he said.
The lunches will conform to USDA nutrition guidelines, featuring cold fare such as milk, sandwiches, vegetables, fruit and bread.|
Staff writer Stephen Foster contributed information to this report.
by CNB