Laura Kinney is spending time in the kitchen at Carter Elementary School in Middletown, filling bags with snacks and other goodies for the children they serve.

She is one of over 50 staff members with the Enlarged City School District of Middletown, who each Thursday deliver packages of snacks, fruits, vegetables, milk and cereal to hundreds of Middletown families at no cost.

Amanda Zgrodek is a varsity volleyball coach. Not only does she receive meals for her kids, she encourages her students to do so, as well.

“Because it is healthy. It is healthy food that is free and available to our community,” she said.

She’s thankful to the volunteers for their work and contribution.

“(They work) countless hours to get this done. They stay after to make sure that everybody gets these boxes and packs them up. I’m thankful for all the hard work they do. They’re wearing shirts today that say, 'We’re Heroes'…and they are,” she said.

Efforts to keep local kids fed throughout the summer are getting a welcomed boost from the American Families Plan, which will make the Summer Pandemic-EBT program permanent.

“Because we are a community eligibility provision school, or CEP school, every child that’s enrolled and attends a school in the Enlarged City School District of Middletown will receive that card. The last rollout resulted in over $2 million in monies to be spent here in Middletown,” said Debra Donleavy, director of food and nutrition services in the district.

The Community Eligibility Provision allows high-poverty schools to provide meals to all students free of charge. Since the pandemic began, they’ve provided 3.5 million meals here.

“That’s always our goal. Get more and more cars online, one more student with a smile on their face. That’s the purpose of the program. From six in the morning to six at night is to feed the children,” she said.