Thousands & thousands served

Gay Anderson would’ve been happy to feed 100 people a day. It was, after all, Brandon’s first time out with a federally-funded summer lunch program. Two hundred meals a day, she thought, would be grand. 

To her delight, participation surpassed 200 meals all but one day this summer and peaked at 394. 

“It’s certainly exceeded my expectations,” said Anderson, child nutrition director for Brandon Valley School District.

In 42 days the Brandon Elementary cafeteria served approximately 11,500 meals. That’s an average of 273 people every day and three meals a minute. 

Meals were free for everyone under 18 and $4 for adults, regardless of residency or income, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

“Someone from Florida could be driving through, know this was here and stop in,” Anderson said. 

Mandy Jordison took her kids to lunch several times this summer, including the last day on July 28. 

“I have a toddler. She’s a picky eater. I’ve found that when other kids are around, she’s more likely to try new foods,” Jordison said.

Anderson wasn’t sure how the program would be received – “it’s kind of like planning a party and not knowing how many to expect,” she said – but knew they needed to serve at least 100 meals a day to warrant the federal funding. 

She’d always wanted to start a summer lunch program but didn’t realize the school district could qualify based on census data.   

Brandon’s population was more than enough to get the federally funded program rolling once Anderson got the backing of the school board and superintendent Dr. Jarod Larson last fall.

Tom Timmerman works from home most days, and for his family, the school lunch was convenient. His two oldest children attended a summer rec program weekday mornings, then headed to the cafeteria for lunch. 

“You don’t have to make them anything or sit and wait for them to eat,” said Timmerman, holding 3-year-old Emmett on his lap. 

Another Brandon parent, Erin Lindner, didn’t discover the program until it was in its final weeks.

“We should’ve been doing it all summer,” she said, as her 8-year-old Landen and 6-year-old Berkley finished a ham sandwich and ice cream, a treat on the last day. 

Determining the menu was simple: familiar favorites from the school year. 

“We feed them what they like,” Anderson said. “Why put out a meal the kids are just going to throw away?” 

One or two fresh fruits or vegetables were offered every day. All meals were freshly prepared, too; in larger school districts, such as Sioux Falls, meals are cooked off site and trucked over to schools on hot plates. 

Anderson heard comments from parents and kids alike. Some people were surprised to see healthy options. 

“School meals have always been the butt of jokes,” she said. “The stigma is there, but it’s something we’ve learned to have thick skin over.”

Most people, however, just wanted to say thanks. 

“It’s been touching for me when parents have said, ‘You don’t know how nice this has been.’ And today three girls came said, ‘Thank you for doing this for us.’ We have a community of a lot of appreciative people,” she said.

On Thursdays people could grab bags of food donated by Feeding South Dakota on their way out. The program also threw extra hours to school cafeteria staff, most of whom work part-time and are eager for extra income in the summer months. 

But the impact of the program on the community is what Anderson will take away.

“The best thing is knowing we’ve made a difference and it’s been meaningful to a number of people,” she said. 

A summer lunch program for 2018 seems like a shoo-in, but Anderson may not be quite as involved next year. She was recently named president of the School Nutrition Association, a national organization with 58,000 members, and starts the role next summer.