By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Due to Early Childhood Connections moving, the Hays Summer Lunch Program will be at the Hays Public Library.
The program is free and open to children 18 and younger. Hot meals will be served in the Schmidt Gallery from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Fridays May 28 through Aug. 2. No meal will be served on July 4. Adults can eat with children for $3.75 per meal.
Children do not have to live in or attend USD 489 schools to participate.
USD 489 will offer its snack program at the library again this year. Healthy snacks will be available free for children from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the children’s department on the second floor of the library.
In previous years, the program served meals to between 100 to 200 children and five to 20 adults per day. The snack program served 60 to 80 children per day last year.
Jessica Younker, USD 489 nutrition services director, said she is anticipating more children will participate in the program now that it has been moved to the library. Not only is it in a central location, but the library is coordinating some of its children’s programs around the lunch program’s hours.
“I think we can both benefit from this,” Younker said of the school/library partnership. “More importantly, the kids will benefit from having it all in one place at one time. We both want to serve the most number of kids we possible can, and we thought coming together would be the best option for both us and for the kids.”
Also new this year, USD 489 is trying to work with local growers to provide fresh produce. Younker attended the kick off meeting for the Hays Downtown Market. Prices and quality must be comparable to what the program can buy through its current suppliers.
For more information on becoming a supplier, contact Younker at 785-623-2400.
The library has added an Astronaut Training Academy at 11 a.m. weekdays for the children who come early for lunch. The program is for youth ages 3 to 11 and will include exercise, math and star charting.
Meagan Zampieri, children’s librarian, said the library tries to educate the whole child. For small children this includes working on fine motor skills. Older children work on not only literacy, but STEAM skills.
This summer’s reading program is space themed and is titled “Universe of Stories.”
During lunch, the library is providing small activities for children who may need to wait for a sibling or adult to finish eating. This will include books and coloring. The Friends of the Library is providing some free books for children to take home and keep.
The library moved its children’s afternoon activities to coordinate with the afternoon snack. Activities for elementary-age children will be at 3 p.m.
Zampieri also said she hoped the reading program and other library programs will grow with the partnership with the lunch program.
“I am excited, because I know how many kids are physically hungry in the summer,” Zampieri said. “They rely on free school lunches during the school year. Their parents aren’t making enough money in order to feed them three whole meals. That money doesn’t increase in the summer, but the kids needs increase. I am just really happy I was able to say yes and the team here was as excited about saying yes as I was.”
The Summer Reading Program already has 800 children signed up. The reading program for young adults kicked off Friday and the kickoff for younger children was Tuesday morning.
You can find a complete list of summer activities for both children and adults on the Hays Public Library website.