Gilmer and Pickens County schools celebrated the end of the 2011-2012 school year last Friday, but even though this time of the year is often seen as one of excitement and fun, the period in between school sessions can be very difficult for children who don’t have a reliable food source at home. However, the number of students going hungry during their time away from school will see a significant decrease thanks to the Seamless Summer program. I was able to sit down with Gilmer County School Food Services Director Linda Waters and find out more about Seamless Summer and what it has to offer for the students of both Gilmer and Pickens County.

Our topic for today is the Seamless Summer program. If you don’t mind, could you give us an overview of the program for those unfamiliar with it?

“The Seamless Summer program is an extension of the school lunch and breakfast program that we serve during the normal school year, and its purpose is to insure that children do not go hungry throughout the summer days. It’s fully funded, just like the school lunch and breakfast program, and any school system that has at least 50% free and reduced students qualifies in any area of the county. We have eleven different sites this year that have been identified, and we have three sites in Pickens County this year because they don’t have their own program. The USDA said that they are trying to make an outreach to more students, so if you neighbor [a county] on another system that has 50% free and reduced and they are not serving the children, then we can serve the children. We will be serving the rec department, the Boys & Girls Club and a tutoring program in Pickens County this year.”

How long has this program been active?

“This is our third year of doing it in Gilmer County. I really can’t tell you how long its been in place—I would say probably fifteen years or so.”

What are the requirements for students to be eligible for Seamless Summer?

“Any child that is eighteen years old or younger that resides in the county is eligible to eat, so at one year old they can come in and eat for free just because our entire school system has 50% or greater free and reduced [breakfast and lunches].”

How long does the program run?

“We are going to run it from May 29th, which is the day after Memorial Day, until August 3rd, which is a Friday.”

Does Seamless Summer need volunteers from the community?

“Yes. We really rely heavily on volunteers because we can not afford to pay a lot of labor to deliver meals, so we rely on volunteers to come and pick the food up and distribute it at different sites in the community. They keep track of the number of meals that are served and they bring back leftovers. We determine whether or not they are usable leftovers. We certainly take food safety into consideration and don’t take any chances in re-serving food if we know that it has not been kept at the proper temperature.”

What should the children involved in Seamless Summer expect as far as the experience?

“I think they can expect quality food and hot meals that are served Monday through Friday. In our system we are fortunate to have the Book Mobile that is going to visit every single site on a weekly basis and give [the children] a free book, and a lot of our volunteers have structured activities for the children where they sing and dance and play games, so it’s not just a matter of eating a meal; they’re also entertained.”

Who should parents or volunteers contact for more information?

“They can contact the Board Office, call me at 706-276-5000, or email me at [email protected]. You can also visit any of the sites, and we are serving breakfast and lunch daily at Gilmer High School, so people can drop in there. I can put anyone wanting to volunteer in touch with other volunteers. They organize groups on a daily basis or a weekly basis to go to some of our sites to help pick up and serve and read to children and to just show that they care.”

Ms. Waters was gracious enough to include a flyer listing the Seamless Summer sites, which is included below.