Photo by Nancy Royden. Left: Wendy Agustin, Maria Nunez and Natally Ixtlahuaca, along with other children, enjoy eating lunch together at Thomas S. Stone Elementary School in Mount Rainier.

Published on: Wednesday, August 05, 2009

By Nancy Royden

Precious Carter was moved to tears last Thursday as she explained to school board member Amber P. Waller how some children would go without food for an entire day if the summer food service program at Thomas S. Stone Elementary School did not exist.

The school at 4500 34th St. in Mount Rainier, part of the Prince George’s County Schools, houses Title 1 students. Approximately 88 percent of them are eligible to receive free or reduced cost meals, program coordinator Carter said.

“These are the only meals they are getting and they are guaranteed a meal throughout the summer,” she said. “You can’t think if you’re hungry. Some of their parents are losing their jobs. We need to be sure these babies are still being fed.”

According to the Maryland State Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program provides cash reimbursement for meals served at eligible sites across Maryland when school is not in session. More than 2.2 million meals were served in the state during Summer 2008. Not only is the PGCPS sponsoring sites, but the so is the Prince George’s County Department of Social Services.

Lynn McCawley, spokeswoman for the PGCPS, said the district is providing free breakfast and lunch to all students under the age of 18.

“The program began on June 29 and continues through Friday at Buck Lodge Middle School and eight elementary school sites,” McCawley said.

The other elementary schools include: Concord, District Heights, Dodge Park, Overlook, Samuel Chase, Seat Pleasant and William Beanes. At TSES, more than 150 students receive meals, she said.

McCawley said the students at TSES made double-digit gains on the Maryland School Assessment this year, gaining 10 percentage points in math and 10.6 points in reading.

The summer Title 1 program is designed to help students keep their skills current and improve them. An emphasis is placed on building mathematics and reading knowledge for the students who are in kindergarten through grade six, she said.

On Tuesday, Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Fort Washington was planning to have lunch with children at Maple Springs Baptist Church in Capitol Heights. Maryland Hunger Solutions, the PGCDSS and the MSDE’s School and Community Nutrition Programs Branch sponsored the event.

Programs such as the summer lunch initiative are making a difference to the area’s children in need, according to the MSDE.

“Both summer meals and suppers fill a much-needed gap in nutrition that occurs in low-income areas; a gap where some children’s only complete, nutritious meals are school breakfast and school lunch,” a spokesman for the MSDE said.

Carter said because the students are well fed, they can keep their minds on studying instead of thinking about being hungry.

The poor economy is definitely affecting some of the children’s parents in a serious financial way, she said.