Feeding Students in Need Over the Summer

Just under half of the students in the Fond du Lac School District qualify for free or reduced lunches during the school year. They are able to find breakfast, lunch, and even after-school meals while school is in session – but a bigger concern shows up during winter and summer breaks. 

Superintendent Jim Sebert says it’s important for the district to team up with local organizations to help get food to kids in need. He tells us “when we can do programs or partnerships like we do with the Fondy Food Pantry, we’re more than eager to do it because we realize kids who are hungry can’t learn and you don’t want kids to not be nourished and taken care of.”

Sebert adds that it’s hard to tell “whether everyone who’s eligible is
actually applying. There is still somewhat, we believe, of a stigma around
people who maybe get into situational poverty and they don’t want to fill out
the forms. And the important thing to remember is that all you have to do is
fill out the form once in the beginning of the year, and when the child goes
through the line, nobody knows.”