Families with at least one child enrolled in the Dillingham school district can get free meals for each of their kids this summer. The program, called Meals-to-You, is a collaboration between Baylor University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The deadline for people to sign up is May 28. To do so, contact Phil Hulett, the Dillingham city schools business and food service manager.at 907-842-6711 or email phulett@dlgsd.org.
Families who are outside of Dillingham but would like to receive meals this summer can find out more at the Meals-to-You website or by contacting their school district.
For more, KDLG's Izzy Ross spoke with Hulett.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Izzy Ross: So you recently came in with a community announcement for us. The program is called Meals-to-You. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Phil Hulett: So I received some information at the beginning of the week dealing with a partnership between Baylor University and USDA to provide meals to school-aged children, up till the age of 18 throughout the summer. Where our food service program ends at the end of the school year, then all these kids, some don't have opportunity to get meals and snacks. And this program actually provides a box once a week that has five breakfasts, five lunches, and five snacks in it for each kid. And so we're just trying to reach out to the community. It's free, it comes to your P.O. box. And the requirement we have is for you to contact me at the district. My phone number is 907-842-6711. Or you can email me at phulett@dlgsd.org.
Ross: It kind of reminds me of some of the lunch programs that we had over the pandemic where there would be lunches provided during specific times of the summer. So you mentioned it was kids up to 18 years old. Are there geographic parameters for this specific program for what you can do for folks?
Hulett: From what I've seen in the information, it's anybody that lives in the Dillingham area. So if your P.O. box is here in Dillingham we can get you signed up for this program.
Ross: You mentioned it was through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Baylor University. So how did you hear about the program?
Hulett: I'm on a lot of emails with USDA and different programs that are available in that state. And I just got an email that said, 'Hey, this is an opportunity for summer food provision to rural and remote communities.' And so I looked into it.
Ross: And so the program, again, it's called Meals-to-You. Would other communities, if they hear about this program, be able to reach out to these folks as well?
Hulett: Definitely. If you just type in Meals-to-You and do a search, their website comes up, and then there's a link on there. If you do need any information and can't find out, you can feel free to contact me. The deadline on this is May 28. So I have to have information by then so that we can get everybody enrolled into the program.
Ross: That's great to know. So if families are listening to this, and would like to get signed up for a meal program over the summer, the deadline to do that, to contact Phil, is May 28. And how long does the program go for?
Hulett: I put in the dates from June 1 - Aug. 15, I believe. So it shouldn't go completely through the summer. And it's not one box per P.O. box, it's one box per kid. So just remember that, if you have multiple kids, and they're like my kids and they eat lots of food during the summer and lots of snacks. This might be a good opportunity to help supplement some of that.
Ross: Especially since food costs so much at the grocery store. In terms of delivery, do the boxes get delivered to the post office?
Hulett: From what they told me it comes directly to your P.O. box. They're going to contact the postmaster here and make sure that they have the facility that will work. And from our vantage point, it should work out just fine. But yeah, it'll come directly to your P.O. box once a week and it should have five days worth in it.
Ross: Phil Hulett with the Dillingham City School District. Thanks so much for joining us today.
Disclaimer: The Dillingham City School District owns KDLG's broadcasting license, but it does not influence or direct our coverage.
Get in touch with the author at izzy@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
