Crookston Public Schools Food Service Department wrapped up the fourth year of the Eat United Summer Food Service Program on August 9.
The program ran for eight weeks (32 total days) and only had to cancel one day at Wildwood Park due to weather conditions. This year, they served a total of 4,725 meals at two open sites and one closed location. 4,580 of those were free meals served to students and the other 145 were served to paying adults.
“It was a very exciting summer for us, serving at two open locations in two different areas of the community. It was fun to see all the new and familiar faces come out to both Highland and Wildwood Parks! Thanks to everyone who participated in the program this year,” said Crookston School Food Services Director Anna Brekken. “We had a great group of volunteers that helped serve the students daily from varying organizations which include Cathedral School, Crookston Public Schools, Trinity Lutheran Church, Tri-Valley Foster Grandparent Program, Polk County Public Health, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, American Crystal Sugar, University of Minnesota Extension, Riverview Health, and the United Way of Crookston. It’s also important for me to recognize Scott Riopelle and the Parks and Recreation Department for allowing us to use their beautiful parks all summer to run this program. They did a wonderful job keeping the facilities clean and helped with any questions or concerns I had this summer. We could not have run this program without the support of our volunteers and Crookston Parks and Recreation Department.”
The Tri-Valley Opportunity Council also provided bus services which allowed students to participate in this program from neighborhoods outside of our service sites and the United Way of Crookston provided a grant which funded some of the labor costs throughout the summer. The Summer Food Service Program is a nationally funded program through the USDA.
