For the rest of the school year students in the Warren County School District will not only have access to free breakfasts and lunches during the school day, they will be able to pick up meals to take home for weekends and holidays.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has extended and expanded its Summer Food Service Program.

The SFSP remained in effect at the start of the school year — providing free meals to all students — as a step to help families set back by the pandemic.

Then, the program was extended through the end of the calendar year.

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Nutrition Group Assistant Food Service Director Candis Rieder shows Eisenhower Elementary School second-grader Amolia Jackson (right) and first-grader Harrison Cathcart what is included in the U.S.D.A. Summer Food Service Program weekend meals.

Recently, U.S.D.A. authorized the extension through the end of the school year and added weekends and holidays.

“One in four kids in the US could face hunger this year because of COVID,” Nutrition Group Assistant Food Service Director Candy Rieder said.

The goal of extending the SFSP is “to ensure children have access to nutritious food as the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Every day, 30 million kids rely on school meals for their daily nutrition,” she said. “It’s a good benefit to the families.”

“The Federal Government (USDA) has put this program in place to ensure that kids are eating nutritious and tasty meals during regular school hours and on the weekends, as well,” District Director of Business Services Jim Grosch said. ” The WCSD strongly supports this effort and is hoping that all students take advantage of this opportunity to lessen the financial burden on their households during this pandemic.”

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Eisenhower Elementary School first-grader Harrison Cathcart, Nutrition Group Assistant Food Service Director Candis Rieder, and second-grader Amolia Jackson hold weekend meals. The U.S.D.A. approved expanding the Summer Food Service Program to weekends and holidays. Starting Friday, every student in Warren County School District was able to pick up a bag with two breakfasts and two lunches as the left school for the weekend.

“We encourage each student to pick up these free meals for the weekend,” Grosch said. “Every student will be eligible to ‘grab-n-go’ these meals on Fridays.”

“They’re just like the meals that were handed out all summer,” Rieder said.

On Friday, workers at each school prepared meals to be sent home with students for the weekend.

The changes are not limited to students attending school in-person.

Anyone age 18 and under is eligible, including district students in Option 2 (Virtual Academy) and Option 3 (blended learning), students in other schools, and non-students.

Families must sign up to pick up food. “Anybody new that wants to sign up is welcome to do that through the school district website,” Rieder said. “They can sign up at any time, but they need to sign up 24 hours in advance.”

“Just like our virtual learners, our kids that are off-site… pick up food on Mondays and Wednesdays,” she said. Starting Wednesday, “they’re receiving a package of five breakfasts and five lunches.”