FULLERTON : Schools Offering Children Lunches

The Fullerton School District is offering free lunch to children at a school and two parks in the city.

The federally funded project is aimed at poor children, but lunches will be given to all who show up. No registration or identification is required.

A bag lunch of a sandwich, milk, fruit and vegetable will be served at Richman Elementary School from 11 a.m. to noon, said Terry Pangborn, the district’s food services director. The school is at 700 S. Richman Ave.

Lunch will be served from noon to 1 p.m. at Lemon Park, 701 S. Lemon St., and Valencia Park, 3441 W. Valencia Drive.

The program will run through July 23. Children through age 18 are welcome to receive the lunches, Pangborn said, but must eat them at the sites. Parents may accompany children but cannot receive food, she said.

This is the second year the district has offered the lunches, she said. The food is provided through a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

On Monday, the first day of the program, about 600 children were fed, she said. As many as 1,000 are expected to eat each day as the program continues.

Pangborn said the city is offering recreation programs at the parks, and Richman Elementary has a summer school program. Many of the children come from those programs, she said, but about 25% come from the surrounding neighborhoods.

The three sites were chosen because studies show that 50% of the children in those neighborhoods are needy, according to the district.