Coeur d’Alene schools offer free summer meals for children

Free breakfasts and lunches at three Coeur d’Alene schools gave families a little more breathing room as summer pushed school meal costs back onto the family grocery bill. Children under 18 could eat at Winton Elementary School, Northwest Expedition Academy and Lakes Middle School, with meals timed to fit the day for parents and caregivers juggling work, childcare and camp schedules.

The service ran June 15 through July 30 and was closed July 2 and 3. Breakfast was served from 8 to 9 a.m., and lunch from 11 a.m. to noon. Coeur d’Alene Public Schools and Southwest Foodservice Excellence ran the program together, continuing a food-service partnership that the district also showed on its Nutrition Services page during the school year.

The three locations spread service across the city instead of concentrating it in one place, which helped reduce transportation barriers for families who might already be running between jobs, errands and summer activities. Lakes Middle School, at 930 N. 15th St., was also listed as a summer school location, making that site especially practical for families already coming to that part of Coeur d’Alene.

The need behind the meals was clear. The nonprofit Coeur d’Alene Backpack Program said it served roughly 700 students in the district who were experiencing food insecurity. The organization started in 2010 with 16 children, a sign of how many local families have come to rely on outside help to keep children fed when school is out.

The district had offered a similar free summer meals program in 2024, and in 2025 Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland Joint school districts all announced USDA Summer Food Service Program sites and times. Families looking for other nearby options could also use the USDA Food and Nutrition Service Summer Meals Site Finder to locate meal sites. In Kootenai County, the program offered a straightforward form of relief: a free breakfast or lunch, close to home, at a time that fit the day.