The Daviess County Public Schools district food services department is going beyond serving breakfast and lunch to students.
Dinner meals will be served at Third Baptist Church on Allen Street and Sts. Joseph and Paul Catholic Church on East 4th Street at 5 p.m. every Wednesday evening. A typical meal might include a sub sandwich, fruit, vegetable and milk.
Both churches have qualified as program sponsors by offering homework assistance time as part of their Wednesday evening youth program. These churches also qualify as “at-risk” sites because they are located in low-income neighborhoods.
DCPS recently became the first school district in the state of Kentucky to receive authorization to provide evening meals during the school year at sites that are not directly affiliated with the district.
On Aug. 20, Estes and Cravens Elementary Schools became the only two schools in the Owensboro Public Schools district to offer dinner meals, but the goal is to have every school providing after-school meals in the near future. Currently, every OPS school offers breakfast and lunch at no cost to students.
“This is an incredible service we will be able to offer our students,” said Owensboro Public Schools Food Service Director Kaitlyn Blankendaal. “There are many students who don’t know where their next meal is coming from unless they are in school. Now, we will be able to provide three meals a day at no cost to our students which will help them stay healthy and energized each day.”
