By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Hays USD 489 is expanding its summer food program to include snacks at the Hays Public Library.

The snacks will include healthy options, such as whole-grain items, cheese sticks and yogurt.

The snacks will be available from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays in the library’s children’s department. Youth need to be 18 or younger, but do not need to sign up, meet income requirements or even be from Hays.

The program, along with the district’s free summer lunch program, begins Tuesday and will run through Aug. 3. The lunches will be served at the Early Childhood Education Center, 305 Main Street, from 11:30 to 1 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The meals are also available to any youth 18 or younger and you also do not need to sign up, meet income requirement or be from Hays.

The program is subsidized by the federal government. Adults can eat with their children at a cost of $3.75, but are not eligible for the snack program.

Jessica Younker, USD 489 nutrition services director, said the new snack program further seeks to fill a food gap for families.

“We have been wanting to expand the program to provide access to more kids,” Younker said. “We did not have enough to expand to another location for lunch, but thought snacks at the library would help those who need a little to get them through to evening or even breakfast the next day.”

In past years, the district has served between 100 and 250 people per day through its summer lunch program.

The snacks and lunch menus will be available online. Click here.

“We are excited to see how the new program goes and how kids react to it,” Younker said. “We hope we see kids come on a regular basis. We are looking forward to see how many kids come. It might even bring more kids to the library and get them reading over the summer. That would be an added bonus.”