Free meals for Merced County kids during summer

School’s out for summer, but districts in Merced County still offer free meals for children who might otherwise go without.

Thousands of children younger than 18 will eat free breakfast, sack lunches and afternoon snacks at one of the Seamless Summer Feeding Option sites around the county. The feeding program, which began this week, continues through July 24.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides grant money for food to schools and nonprofits where at least 50 percent of the children in the area are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.

Registration is not required.

The summer meals are comparable to cafeteria food served during the school year, with requirements that include fruit, vegetable, whole-grain and low-fat-milk offerings.

Schools throughout the county offer food, but meals are also available at parks and nonprofit locations. Meals are served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, depending on the location.

Not all of the sites offer both breakfast and lunch.

The sites will not serve food July 3 in observance of Independence Day.

This story was originally published June 16, 2015 at 11:11 AM with the headline "Free meals for Merced County kids during summer."