KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.
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This Thursday, school lets out for the summer in Blue Springs. For some families, that means reliable school lunches end.
Since 2019, groups have teamed up to deliver free lunches Monday-Friday to make sure families aren’t struggling.
Last year, Sandy’s Restaurant took over and had a goal of delivering 5,000 meals. After KSHB 41 News highlighted the efforts, donations poured in, according to general manager Bobby Hines.
RELATED | Sandy's Restaurant breaks lunch delivery goal before summer's end
He said the extra help allowed the restaurant to exceed its goal and deliver 8,000 lunches by the end of summer. This year, the goal is 10,000.
"These kids are glad to see us. You know, I got a favorite kid down in one of these apartments. He’d come and he took it upon himself to get lunches for everybody and travel them around the apartment complex,” said Hines, who also runs the U Matter Movement. “We were something for them to look forward to every day."
Hines wants to continue that this year. Starting Monday, June 2, lunch will be delivered to five apartment complexes where Hines knows there is a need. Deliveries will be Monday through Friday until the week before school starts.
Local nonprofit Many Parts One Body is handling Tuesday meals. Alex Duvall, the president of the nonprofit, grew up in Blue Springs.
Duvall sees this as an opportunity to give back and provide relief to these families, an outlook he hopes others share.
“I hope they see that everybody has an opportunity to give back, everybody has the ability to do something. One of the things we talk about a lot is time, treasure and talent, and everybody's got one of them," Duvall said. "You've got time, you've got treasure, you've got talents. Everybody's got something they can give; it doesn't have to be a lot. Every little thing that you can do for somebody else matters, and that's why we're out.”
Hines and Duvall encourage people to bring in food donations to Sandy’s, like individual bags of chips, fruit snacks, granola bars, and other sack lunch items that won’t spoil. Otherwise, people can donate money online here.
The Blue Springs School District told KSHB 41 News last summer the reason it doesn’t offer free summer lunches is that it doesn’t qualify for the USDA’s program. That is due to not meeting the minimum number of families that qualify for free and reduced lunch.
Find other free summer lunch locations through this USDA map.
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