Free Lunches For Upper Moreland Students Thanks To ACME Grant

UPPER MORELAND, PA — Students in this eastern Montgomery County school district who are eligible for reduced meal costs will now be looking at some free meals thanks to a generous donation from a local grocery store chain.

The Upper Moreland School District announced last week that it has received a grant from the ACME Markets Foundation's Nourishing Neighbors program that will help provide free lunch to students in the district who qualify for reduced cost meals for the 2022-23 school year.

The ACME Markets Foundation's Nourishing Neighbors program aims to help children, senior citizens and families in the area get access to health and nourishing food.

Upper Moreland School District Food Services Director Randi Watts says the program will benefit students by providing nutritious meals throughout the school year, thereby helping to offset rising food costs, according to the district.

The school district said that grants such as those from the ACME foundation were able to help qualifying students at the start of the school year through Sept. 30 during a lapse of time before the state gave its approval for free breakfast for all kids across the commonwealth beginning on Oct. 1.

"Instituting the universal free breakfast starting day one of school was crucial after seeing that the number of students eating breakfast doubled over the past year and a half of serving free breakfast in schools during the pandemic," the district wrote in a news release.

The Nourishing Neighbors program by the ACME foundation says it has committed more than $50 million towards hunger relief across various communities.

The foundation says it developed a fund to help families impacted by COVID-19 induced school closures and job losses and the related threat to the elderly and low-income populations.

The organization said the fund is designed to help offset the decrease in food bank donations, product distribution challenges, a decline in volunteer groups and an increased product demand for vulnerable populations.

Among the beneficiaries of donated funds are school districts that provide meals to children who qualify for reduced cost meals.

Others who benefit from the donated dollars are organizations working to provide food to eligible senior citizens and families who whose providers work hourly wage jobs and have experienced a reduction in hours caused by economic downturns.

The Upper Moreland Township School District serves students in the Willow Grove, Hatboro and Huntington Valley communities, and is comprised of a primary school, intermediate school, middle school and high school.

The district serves just over 3,000 students.