Cass Lake-Bena Schools to offer free summer meals to kids

Cass Lake-Bena Schools will again put free breakfast and lunch on the table for children 18 years and younger at Cass Lake-Bena Middle School, giving families in Cass Lake and surrounding east Beltrami County a weekday meal option when school is out for summer.

The meals will be served from Monday, June 15, through Thursday, July 2, with breakfast available from 8 to 9 a.m. and lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Service will run Monday through Thursday each week during that period. The school site gives parents and caregivers a clear window to plan around, with both meals offered at no cost.

The summer menu is part of the federal Summer Food Service Program, which is administered in Minnesota by the Minnesota Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says approved summer meal sites serve meals and snacks to children 18 and younger at no cost, and the state says the program is designed to fill the nutrition gap during the summer months.

Families looking for other summer meal sites can use USDA’s Summer Meals Site Finder to locate hours and contact information. Minnesota also points families to the Free Meals for Kids app, the state’s site map, the participation report and the 211 hotline for nearby meal locations.

Cass Lake-Bena Schools says the district is located on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation and serves a student body that is about 90% American Indian. That makes the summer feeding program especially relevant for local households that rely on school meals during the academic year and may face a wider food gap once classes end.

The district has offered similar summer meals before, including programs in 2024 and 2025, when Cass Lake-Bena used school sites to serve children through the summer break. This year’s schedule at Cass Lake-Bena Middle School continues that pattern with a simple, fixed plan: free meals, weekday hours, and a short summer run that helps keep kids fed while school is closed.