Parents – sign up early for free, reduced lunches

***image1***Parents interested in financial relief to provide their children the opportunity for nutritional health and all associated benefits can apply for free or reduced price lunches for the 2005-2006 school year at the school liaison offices.

To better accommodate KMC members, the school liaison offices accept applications for the program year round.

This program is available to all Department of Defense Dependent Schools students in the KMC. Eligibility for receiving free or reduced cost lunches is based on family income and size. Regardless of the amount a student pays for lunch, no distinction is made between students receiving free or reduced price lunches and those who do not.

To determine eligibility each family must complete an application and submit a copy of the most current pay statement for all wage-earners residing in household. Applicants will be notified within 10 business days of submission.
Parents of students attending Ramstein or Landstuhl schools should contact Sabine Koch at 480-9374 or 06371-47-9374. Parents of students attending Kaiserslautern, Vogelweh or Sembach schools should contact William Koch at 489-7205 or 0631-536-7205.

For each child enrolled in the free lunch program, the Kaiserslautern-Landstuhl Spouses Association’s Bright Eyes program will pay for one free pair of eyeglasses per year for each child identified as needing corrective eye wear. Contact the school nurse for further information.

The KMC school lunch program is dedicated to offering students a nutritionally balanced lunch, meeting one-third of the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended dietary allowance of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium and calories.

Research has found children who regularly consume an adequate diet, possess a greater ability to learn and retain information and demonstrate healthier physical and mental behavior than their nutritionally challenged peers.

According to the USDA, “School lunches must meet the applicable recommendations of the Dietary Guide-lines for Americans, which recommend no more than 30 percent of an individual’s calories come from fat, and less than 10 percent from saturated fat.”
The program operates in more than 99,800 schools and provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to nearly 26 million children each school day.

(Courtesy of KMC School Liaison Office)