Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood — With the school year over, the Ironwood Area Schools is once again launching its free Meet Up and Eat Up summer lunch program.
“(The district offers the program) because of the amount of free and reduced lunches we have here … that don’t seem to get a healthy, balanced lunch for the summer; so it’s nice to have (the program) available,” Ironwood Food Services Director Mary Hampston Kusz said. “It’s a great place for kids to get outside, get together, play and get some exercise.”
The lunches will be served in Depot Park in downtown Ironwood, starting Monday.
The lunches are offered from 11 a.m. to noon Mondays through Thursdays, with Hampston Kusz saying it is only four days a week because in past years the program has seen a noticeable drop in Friday attendance as kids leave the area on weekends.
The lunches will be offered through July 26, according to Hampston Kusz, except for July 4 and July 19. She explained no lunches on those days are because of the Independence Day holiday and Festival Ironwood respectively.
The lunches are offered to anyone under the age of 18, Hampston Kusz said, or those under the age of 26 enrolled in a recognized educational program for the mentally or physically disabled.
Hampston Kusz stressed participants didn’t need to be an Ironwood student to get a free lunch.
“You can be visiting from California and go to lunch,” she said. “A lot of times grandparents bring their kids that are visiting for the summer … because there is also stuff going on every day.”
The program is partnering with a range of community organizations — including the Ironwood Carnegie Library, the local extension offices and 4-H program — to offer programs to accompany the meals each days.
Those with questions can contact Hampston Kusz at 906-932-3476, or Amy Nosal at 715-561-2695.
