Chicago Public Schools staff set up tables with free lunches at 100 locations across the city for the first day of the LunchStop program this year.
The lunches are served outdoors to make it easier for kids to grab a meal and are meant for all Chicago children under 18 — not just CPS students. The program aims to make healthy meals more accessible to students and the community even when school isn’t in session by bringing lunches to spaces that are familiar to children.
As of 2017, the USDA estimates that 40 million people in the United States, including more than 12 million children, are food insecure. Feeding America’s 2019 “Map the Meal Gap” report found that there are over 1.3 million food-insecure people living in Illinois.
Darnell Phillips, a CPS lunchroom manager for 26 years, said the LunchStop program allows him to connect with the kids who come for lunch.
Phillips, who was stationed at Perez Elementary School in Pilsen, said it’s important to provide meals all year round, not just during the school year.
“We don’t know if kids eat at home. If anyone makes them a hot meal. Or if anyone actually takes the time out to make them anything,” he said. “This way, at least I know I’m making them a nutritious meal.”
Christina Bennett, another lunchroom manager, saw only a few kids come to get lunch at Benito Juarez High School in Pilsen on Monday, but said she said as the weather gets nicer and the word gets out about the program it’ll be more successful.
Bennett said because LunchStops are at schools where children are used to getting meals, it makes them more comfortable with grabbing lunch quickly. She said she hopes that kids will sit and eat their lunches around the LunchStops to encourage others to take advantage of the free lunches.
“Nobody should be hungry,” she said. “(CPS) has those meals when school is in, and some kids depend on those meals, so it’s important that kids have somewhere to go where they can get a nutritious meal every day.”
LunchStop sites are open from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. To learn more or find a location, visit the CPS Summer Meals Map.
