Cedar Rapids school expands free meals to all ages for the summer

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KGAN) — Free breakfast and lunch for the rest of summer began at Johnson STEAM Academy on Thursday.

Access to meals at the location has been expanded to include people of all ages, thanks to funding from local partners.

Local leaders told Iowa's News Now the Cedar Rapids city council is slated to approve funding for the meal program at next week's meeting.

That would be on top of the $10,000 already chipped in from the Linn County Board of Supervisors.

The Cedar Rapids Community School District has been serving kids meals in the summer for about a decade, but now, families can join their children at mealtime.

"It's a thing that brings the community together. For that to be open to everyone, no questions asked, I think is is the right thing to do," Vice President of the CRCSD Board of Education David Tominsky said. "It's not just kids that are struggling to find their next meal, it's everyone."

It all comes nearly a month after the Hy-Vee on First Ave. shut its doors, creating a food desert in the nearby neighborhoods and stirring State Representative Sami Scheetz to connect with the district.

"There won't be a grocery store for a mile and a half around these two critically important neighborhoods in our city and two neighborhoods that are some of the most racially diverse and working class communities that we have," Scheetz said.

The lack of summer EBT this year is also putting a strain on local families facing food insecurity after Governor Kim Reynolds' decision to deny millions of dollars in federal funding for hungry kids.

It's also partly why the Linn County supervisors chose to chip in $10,000 in American Rescue Plan funds to expand CRCSD's summer meal program.

"It puts more pressure on local communities to help fill in those those gaps. It places a tremendous burden on children and families," Supervisor Ben Rogers said. "Where there are hungry children, there are probably also hungry adults."

Now, the district's hoping to keep programs like these going to help families in need.

"This is not a uniquely Cedar Rapids problem, you know, it's a problem that I think we're experiencing everywhere, so [it's great] to see things like this inspire others to find ways to get it done."

Breakfast runs from 8- 9 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on weekdays through August 16. It is exclusively for all ages at the Johnson Elementary location, whereas all other locations are for kids under 18.

Federal rules say kids have to sit down and eat, but adults have the option for grab and go meals.