Much like the rest of the state, USD 257 has struggled in years past to attract children to its summer meals program.
In fact, the state ranks 50th in the country in summer meals participation, noted Kathy Koehn, USD 257’s nutrition and wellness coordinator.
“We just need to reach more kids,” she said.
A number of incentives introduced in 2015 helped, “but there was still a significant population we weren’t reaching,” she said, particularly students living outside Iola, or too far to safely walk to meal sites.
So this year, the district is taking the food to the kids.
Koehn has introduced MARV — a Meals And Reading Vehicle — for its summer meals program, that launches Wednesday.
The district will continue to offer meals Monday through Friday at the Iola High School cafeteria and at McKinley Elementary School.
MARV, meanwhile, will be dispatched to six different locations in Iola, Gas and LaHarpe to reach additional students.
The bus starts out each day at the Chambers Drive park area in the new Cedarbrook Addition from 9:30 to 9:50 each morning for a late breakfast, followed by a stop at the old ANW preschool at the intersection of Kansas and Eisenhower drives at 10.
From there, lunch becomes the main menu item as MARV heads to the south trailer park in Gas at 11 and the Gas Community Building at 11:30 and then LaHarpe City Hall at noon.
The bus returns to Iola at 12:40 p.m. to catch kids at Riverside Park about to head to the Iola Municipal Pool before returning to the Chambers Drive park area at 1:10, and wrapping up at 1:30 back at the old ANW preschool.
Participation is free. The only requirement is the youngsters be under 18 years old.
THE IMPETUS for MARV came after Koehn attended a summit last October in which education officials across the state discussed ways to extend the summer meals program, noting school lunches frequently were the only healthy meals some youngsters would eat.
Discussion included transporting food, which sparked an idea from Brian Donovan, who manages OPAA, USD 257’s food service supplier.
