Lawrence schools offer free summer lunches, library visits and performances

Families looking to trim summer food bills will have two ways to tap Lawrence Public Schools support: free lunches at Sunset Hill Elementary and weekly meal-kit pickup at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, both designed to keep children fed when school is out.

The main lunch site will run every weekday from noon to 12:45 p.m. at Sunset Hill Elementary School, 901 Schwarz Rd., for children ages 1 to 18 from June 1 through July 24. No registration or identification will be required for the on-site meals, but children must eat there and cannot take food home. Adults who eat with their children will be able to buy a meal for $5, paid by cash or check only. Meals will not be served June 19 or July 3.

The district is also turning the lunch stop into a fuller summer gathering place. Every Monday, the Lawrence Public Library bookmobile will visit Sunset Hill for a Dottie Stop from noon to 1 p.m., giving families a chance to browse and return books while they wait for lunch. Thursdays will bring free performances from local storytellers, poets and musicians, adding a little routine and social connection to a program that otherwise centers on food access.

For families who rely on grab-and-go help, USD 497 has moved meal-kit pickup to the Douglas County Fairgrounds Open Air Pavilion, 2110 Harper St. in Lawrence, entered off 19th Street on the northwest side of the fairgrounds. Pickup will be held Tuesday mornings from 7 to 9 a.m. on June 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, and July 7, 14 and 21. Registration is required, and the district says the kits will provide five days of breakfasts and lunches at a time.

The meal-kit program is limited to children not participating in the summer food service program at other sites, including Boys & Girls Club locations at Hillcrest, Sunset Hill and Schwegler. District officials say the fairgrounds site should be safer from a traffic standpoint, offer more space and better protect families, staff and food during severe weather. The district also has shifted to reusable insulated tote bags, which it says will keep frozen items colder longer, improve food safety and reduce cardboard waste.

The push lands in a broader national effort to close summer hunger gaps. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says summer meals are available to all children 18 and under, with no application needed for on-site service. Its research found that nearly 80% of children in low-income households live within 1 mile of an urban summer meal site or within 10 miles of a rural one, while 45% of households near a summer meal site are food insecure, compared with 14% nationally. The USDA also launched SUN Bucks in 2024, a grocery benefit worth $120 per eligible school-aged child, with about 21 million children expected to benefit in the program’s first summer.