Cordova children 18 years and younger benefited for the second summer with the Summer Lunch Program. The program is offered by USDA and is administered by Food Services Director Sandie Ponte of the Cordova School District.

After last year's very successful pilot year, this year a breakfast program was offered to compliment the efforts of the summer lunch program. The summer lunch program has gained quick notoriety across the state, with the lunches actually being delivered to the many participating sites throughout the community. Summer camps, baseball practices, library reading programs, music camps, and day care providers all assisted in providing meals to children that were in attendance at the host sites.

All meals provided to children 18 and younger are free.

With a total enrollment of 385 school-aged children, Cordova Schools saw nearly 12,000 school lunches served during its first year of the summer program. During the second summer the numbers again soared, with some monthly totals exceeding 4,000 lunches served.

Although there were efforts attempted in previous years, it took a new approach to see the vital success of the lunch program take hold. The new approach accepted the fact that many children are simply not excited about returning to school in the summer for any reason (even a free lunch). Thus the need for an innovative approach. By delivering lunches to participating sites, the students received a nutritious lunch on a daily basis.

Each participating site was required to attend a local training that included detailed protocol for lunch delivery, sanitary concerns, and to discuss the need for regular visits by school personnel to ensure accountability (necessary for the state's lunch audit purposes.) The school was always available for students not involved in any programs but still interested in the summer lunch program.

Cordova's summer work is largely dependent on the salmon run. By chance, during the first year of the summer lunch program the salmon run was considerably late. With no eligibility requirements and meals available for all children 18 and younger, considerable pressure was taken off families that were otherwise dependent on income generated by the fish harvest.

In addition, the many summer camps, baseball practices, and day cares commented that it was not only the cost of time in preparing meals that they were appreciative for, but also the actual cost of the meals/materials that was now the responsibility of the summer program. This opportunity allowed for more program development and delivery for the benefit of the children.

The Summer Lunch Program and the Summer Breakfast Program are both sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture and administered by Alaska Department of Education Food Services, as well as by the local food services director of Cordova Schools. The lunches are reimbursed by the federal government allowing for any costs incurred to be offset (much like the regular school lunch program during the school year).

Cordova Schools has provided a great service to the community's children with this program. Not only are we able to provide the great service to the children, but we also were able to provide employment to the many folks responsible for preparing and packing the numerous lunches daily. We have also had tremendous support from the State of Alaska as we developed this program in Cordova. I hope to see districts large and small take advantage of this great program as we did. Especially during trying economical times, you'd be amazed at the support the program received in our community.

Jim Nygaard is the superintendent of the Cordova School District.