Kids Eat FREE! Serves Community

Kids Eat FREE! is a program that focuses on serving lunch to kids age 18 and under. It will be held from July 6 through August 7 at Fort Concho in Officer’s Quarters Mondays through Fridays at 11:30-12:30. Johnson Street Church of Christ and Rust Street Ministries are organizing the program.

According to program leader Maria Gonzales, the school serves food to children through June, but Kids Eat FREE! was founded to feed children lunch when summer school ends.

“It’s the kids that we’re thinking about,” Gonzales said. “It’s a good cause. Of course, there’s always people that are going to take advantage of the [program], but I don’t they would come if they weren’t hungry.”

Kids Eat started serving in 2010 and served about 50 people every day for three weeks according to Gonzales. Since, then, the event has grown to serve 100 to 120 a day and to last about a month

Gonzales said that meals served throughout the month will include lasagna, chicken tenders, steak fingers, sandwiches, spaghetti with meat sauce, hamburgers and pizza. She claims to base meal plans partially off school lunch menus.

“I cater to the kids and I try to have a balanced meal,” Gonzales said.

After lunch each day, kids will be treated to an activity such as arts and crafts

“Some of them even hurry [through their lunches] because they want to get into the activities room to do the activity,” Gonzales said. “The kids enjoy it, so that’s why we do it.

Gonzales claims that those who partake in Kids Eat FREE! are “very appreciative” of the work that the volunteers do.

“We don’t turn anybody away, we feed the adults too,” Gonzales said. “So people just walk in and we don’t ask them any questions. Anybody that comes, we just feed them.”

Besides Kids Eat FREE!, there are several other sites in San Angelo that offer summer food programs. Click here to learn the locations of these sites and the dates that meals will be served.

Kids Eat FREE! is connected with the Texas Hunger Initiative. Its sites are funded by churches, nonprofit agencies, businesses and individual donations. For more information, call Betsy Sadler at 325-374-8798.