Kids enjoying free summer lunch from MPHC

Providing Free Summer Lunches for Kids

June 13, 2016 |

Healthy lives start with healthy meals. Since 2014, Mountain Park and our Women, Infants and Children (WIC) department have partnered with the Summer Food Service Program to give children 18 and younger nutritious meals during the summer months.

This year we are hosting the Summer Kids’ Café at our newly remodeled WIC clinic at Baseline West, 303 E. Baseline Road. Parents can bring their kids in for a free lunch every weekday (except Wednesday) until July 22 from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

“Parents or adults can also get lunch for just $1,” Jessika Mendez Correa, Nutrition Education Specialist and program lead, told us. “People with disabilities also receive free meals. Everyone is welcome. We want parents to bring their kids and feed their families during the summer months.”

This program gives parents one less thing to worry about during those summer months when their children are out of school.
“Some people are hesitant about the program but we make them feel welcome and encourage them to come in,” Jessika mentioned. “After they get in a routine, they really enjoy it a lot.”

The menu varies every day and parents can come daily to get lunch for their children. Lunches are nutritious and USDA-approved.

Families have one less thing to worry about during the summer months when school is not in session. 

The program, in its third year at Mountain Park, has brought a lot of awareness to WIC and Mountain Park.

“Since we moved across the street I wanted to host the program so people knew that we are in a new building,” Christine Garcia, WIC Clinic Supervisor, said. “What we’re seeing is an increase in awareness. Before the move we would see a lot of WIC clients that were already Mountain Park patients. Now we’re reaching out to different areas of the community, some who might not be Mountain Park patients, and we are able to introduce them to all the resources we have available and help them become patients at our clinics.”

For more information, please email info@mphc-az.org