Texas Border Business
Rio Grande Valley, TX – IDEA Public Schools’ Child Nutrition Program (CNP) is excited to announce they will be serving FREE meals during the summer to any child in the community aged 18 years and younger whether they are an IDEA student or not. The offering is made possible through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.
Most IDEA Rio Grande Valley campuses will begin serving meals on June 1, while 10 campuses — including IDEA Brownsville, IDEA Tres Lagos, IDEA Frontier, IDEA North Mission, IDEA San Juan, IDEA Rio Grande City, IDEA San Benito, IDEA Riverview, IDEA Weslaco Pike, and IDEA Mission — will begin service earlier on May 29.
According to Feeding America, nearly 1 in 5 children in the country face hunger. The free meals are part of IDEA’s commitment to local communities to help promote a healthy and active lifestyle through the Seamless Summer Meals Option. For the children who rely on school meals during the academic year, these meals offer a source of good nutrition when school is out for the long summer vacation.
“We know nutrition is essential for all children in our community—not just during the school year, but throughout the summer as well,” said Fernando Aguilar, Vice President of the Child Nutrition Program at IDEA Public Schools. “With nearly 1.7 million children in Texas at risk of hunger this summer, we’re proud continue helping fill that gap by providing nutritious meals that ease the financial strain on families during the break.”
The summer meals will include breakfast and lunch and must be consumed in the cafeteria of any IDEA campus Monday through Friday. Breakfast will be served from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Food service will be closed on federal holidays, June 19. There will be no service June 29- July 4.
Families seeking more information regarding summer meals on campus may contact the cafeteria manager at any IDEA campus.
If you would like more information on IDEA Public Schools, please visit ideapublicschools.org. To learn more about IDEA RGV’s campuses and locations, please visit www.ideapublicschools.org/regions/rio-grande-valley.
In accordance with federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its agencies, offices, employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the state or local agency that administers the program or contact USDA through the Telecommunications Relay Service at 711 (voice and TTY). Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
- Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Mail Stop 9410, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
- Fax: (202) 690-7442; or
- Email: program.intake@usda.gov.
