Wapato Schools Offer Free Lunch

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Story Published: Dec 15, 2009 at 6:44 PM PDT

By Melissa Wagner

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Wapato - No one goes hungry. The Wapato School District is no longer charging for its lunch program. Last year, Close to 90% of all students were participating in the federally funded free and reduced lunch program. This year, Wapato schools closed the gap, offering a free, healthy lunch to everyone.

Stacks of sandwiches. Piles of pears. Fresh greens. And Wapato students won't pay a dime to get it.
Over the years the school district offered free and reduced lunch meals for struggling families. But some students were still not getting fed. So the Executive Director of Supply Operations said the district started looking into the Provision 2 program, " A parent came to me and asked me if I'd look into it and consider it," said Charles Wheaton.

They did more than consider it, according to John Mattingly, Wapato Schools Food Service Director, " They are all eating at no charge"

The district signed up for the four year program before the start of the school year. Parents still had to fill out applications this year for the regular program, but that information will now go into a data base for the next three years. The district will also have to watch its grocery bill.

The Food Service Director said he spends about $40,000 to $70,000 a month. But that figure is actually down from last year. Mattingly said, "One thing we're doing, we're using some local growers as far as produce goes. Just being more careful with the mix on our menu."

The district is also hoping its free lunch program will attract more families back to Wapato Schools.

" That might have been a reason that some went to Toppenish. Because Toppenish has that program," said Wheaton.

Feeding kids and educating families. Wapato schools want to share the benefits with everyone, without the added worry of where the money will come from.

Last year the district put in about a hundred grand of its own money to supplement its lunch program. Once this year's numbers are in, the district is hoping the contribution will actually be lower than that.

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