Food Program draws crowd

Most kids don't want to be in the school during summer vacation but that's not the case this summer. For the third year, Nashua-Plainfield has held the Summer Food Program at the high school.     A state funded program, the Summer Food Program lets kids 1- 18 years old eat a free breakfast and free lunch in the high school lunch room. Adults are welcome to eat for $4 per person.     Rose Vowell, elementary school cook and Pam Herold, food service director head up the program. “Last year we didn't have a clue how many kids would eat,” said Vowell.It was started two summers ago and the person who did it that first year is no longer here.” Vowell said that she and Herold decided last summer to start out making meals that weren't real difficult.“We also had a back up plan that if we ran out of food we could make something fast.”      That plan seemed to be a good one. They serve a healthy breakfast from 7:30-8:30 a.m. and a healthy lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Monday, June 6 was the first day of the Summer Food Program and it will run through Friday, Aug. 12.      On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays they serve around 40-65 for breakfast and 60-100 for lunch.“Tuesdays and Thursdays are slower,” Vowell said, “because there is no Athletic Development Program those mornings.” The two still serve several children on slow days.      The Summer Food Program, administered by the Iowa Department of Education, provides nutritious meals and snacks to children during the summer months. The biggest barrier for the program is that it is still vastly under-utilized. Children can't participate if they don't know where the site is.The nice thing about the program is that there are no income guidelines to follow. Everyone that wants to eat, eats.