Makayla Perez sat on a school bus, but this was no ordinary yellow school bus. This was the MARV bus, the new Meals and Reading Vehicle for USD 257’s summer lunch program.
The white-painted bus with smiling fruit depicted on its side was parked next to the Iola Municipal Pool.
On top of the Mustang-emblazoned wooden table was a sandwich, apple slices, cauliflower and a chocolate milk. Next to the bus window was an assortment of books.
Perez did not eat much of her lunch this time, but that was OK with her mom, Crystal Jones, who is also a food service worker. Perez said the free meals are healthier than what she would normally eat.
“I ate some of my food,” said Perez, who will be a freshman at Iola High School this fall. “Usually at home I eat a burrito or sometimes I eat pizza rolls. Pizza rolls aren’t very healthy.”
Perez, who usually goes swimming at the pool after eating on the MARV bus, won a new towel as part of the Fun Friday raffle.
Fun Fridays are a response by the summer food service program organizers to the drop-off in participation on Fridays, Brian Donovan, food service director for OPAA, said. OPAA is USD 257’s food service provider.
Fun Fridays usually include special promotions or events and feature some of the more popular school lunches. This one paired pizza with a swimming pool promotion.
While MARV and Fun Fridays both provide free lunches to school-aged children, they are not the same thing. MARV serves as a mobile site for the summer food service program, which was started in an attempt to increase overall participation in the program. Fun Fridays are only at Riverside Park on Fridays and are intended to increase Friday participation.
Both MARV and Fun Fridays are funded by the USDA.
At the pool stop, MARV had three schoolchildren eat meals. Fun Fridays, which took place just outside the bus, had over a dozen.
Friday was Pat Spencer’s first time driving the MARV bus.
“The kids are a lot of fun,” Spencer said. “We’ve just got to get more of them rounded up … We just need more parents to know it’s a free program and to get them here at our stops. This is a great program.”
Despite low participation, Spencer said she has observed a growth in the number of schoolchildren participating in the free summer meal program.
“We’re picking up more every day, so that means their friends are telling their friends and they’re bringing them,” Spencer said.
