Ossining Offers Free Lunches To Students Through June 2023

OSSINING, NY — Ossining is offering all its students free lunches for the rest of the school year as advocates keep working for a sea change in how the state and the country deal with child hunger.

The district's program already permits all students to eat breakfast for free.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Department of Agriculture provided operational flexibilities and additional funding to School Food Authorities to help overcome challenges and ensure children had continued access to meals, district officials said.

"As a result, many districts now have a positive balance in their school food service accounts, some in excess of the maximum balance allowed by federal regulations," Superintendent Ray Sanchez explained. "For the balance of this school year only, districts have been given the opportunity to use the school food service account funds to offset the cost of funding the school lunch program."

The Paid Lunch Equity Waiver extends free lunch to students who under ordinary circumstances would have to pay for their meals.

In suburban and rural communities across New York State, hundreds of thousands of kids skip breakfast and lunch because their families can’t afford to pay but don't qualify for free meals under federal poverty guidelines, Rachel Sabella, Director of No Kid Hungry NY told Patch.

"During the pandemic, the federal government provided support to make school meals temporarily free for all kids, easing the burden on struggling families, but that program expired before the current school year," she said. "No child can learn and thrive in the classroom on an empty stomach. We need 2023 to be the year we make free school meals a reality in New York State, regardless of zip code."

Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness in our local communities of hunger, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks and 60,000 local meals programs across the country, estimates that nearly 34 million people, including 9 million children — about 1 in 6 Americans — are living with food insecurity. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.