Chandler Unified offers all children free lunch this Thanksgiving weekend

By Janet Perez
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Throughout the rest of the month, the Chandler Unified School District will be offering free weekend lunch service to all children — and the program may be extended beyond that.

The service is open to children up to age 18, and no ID or eligibility documentation is required.

The program was started at the beginning of the month as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits lapsed during the federal government shutdown. SNAP provides food benefits to low-income families.

“It initially started because district departments like food and nutrition, counseling and social services, Title 1 sites, received calls, emails, questions from families concerned about their free and reduced meal benefit ending due to the halt in SNAP benefits. We heard questions like ‘will my child still get breakfast and lunch at school,’” Stephanie Ingersoll, communications and marketing executive director at CUSD, stated in an email.

The district’s counseling and social services team worked with groups such as Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank to determine community needs while SNAP payments were delayed.

“After that, the district felt like this was a need that needed to be filled. The first weekend was Nov. 8-9,” Ingersoll stated. “We know SNAP is back since then, but with the holidays coming up the district decided to keep it going through Nov. 30 for sure, then we are re-assessing.”

The cost of the meals is covered under the National School Lunch Program’s at-risk funding, Ingersoll stated.

The next free lunches will be served from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Nov. 28-30 at Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary School, 700 N. Hartford.

Kids can also get free lunches at the same place and time on Wednesday, the first day of the Thanksgiving break.

Along with lunch, kids can take part in activities such as coloring, and work on puzzles and math worksheets during the meal service.

For questions or additional information, contact the CUSD Food & Nutrition office at 480-812-7240.

CUSD has schools in Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek.

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Janet Perez
News Editor | Queen Creek & San Tan Valley

jperez@iniusa.org

Meet Janet
Janet Perez joined Independent Newsmedia as editor of the Queen Creek Independent and Florence Independent in 2020. She started her career in 1989 with the Gannett-owned El Paso Times. In 1992, she moved to Tempe and has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. She left Arizona for three years to work at New Mexico State University and Baylor University before returning to work at Arizona State  University. Missing the business, she went back to journalism in 2017.

Community: A long-time pet owner, she supports animal welfare causes.

Education: University of Texas at El Paso with a BA in journalism and a minor in political science. 

Random Fact: She had a head full of random facts.  

Hobbies: Reading, watching documentaries, cooking and playing with her dogs.