SAU 6 offers same-day summer food pickup at Stevens High School

Families in need of food support picked up summer food at Stevens High School’s cafeteria entrance on Middle Street from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, and SAU #6 said lots of fruits and veggies were available. The same-day notice, signed by Ms. Porter, was pushed across district school pages to get the information quickly to Claremont and Unity households.

The pickup landed at a critical moment for families who had depended on school-day meals during the academic year. Once classes end, breakfast, lunch, and backpack-style supports tied to school routines disappear, and summer distributions become the stopgap that keeps those meals within reach.

SAU #6 made clear that the June 12 pickup was part of a wider support network already in motion. Just three days earlier, the district thanked Trinity Episcopal Church for providing weekend food bags during the school year, showing that local partners were still helping carry families through the transition into summer.

The district also repeated the notice on the Claremont Middle School and Unity Elementary school pages, signaling that the message was meant to reach families systemwide, not just those already checking Stevens High School updates. That broad distribution mattered because Stevens serves students in both Claremont and Unity, making the Middle Street cafeteria entrance a practical pickup point for more than one community.

The food notice also fit the larger summer nutrition framework used across the country. The United States Department of Agriculture says the Summer Food Service Program provides free meals and snacks to children and teens at schools, parks, and other neighborhood sites during the summer, and that some rural communities also offer meal pickup or delivery. New Hampshire’s Department of Education says SUN Meals is federally funded and state-administered.

National anti-hunger advocates say summer is often the hungriest time of year for children who rely on school meals, which is why notices like SAU #6’s carry such immediate weight for local households. In Sullivan County, where the end of the school year can quickly tighten access to reliable food, Stevens High School’s pickup served as a direct bridge from the school year into the summer months.