Sioux City Career Academy -

SIOUX CITY -- On Monday, Ella Hankins celebrated her fifth birthday with a lunch fit for a princess.

Along with her 10-year-old brother Noah, Ella feasted on barbecued ribs on a bun, a bowl of baked beans, a pickle spear, fruit and a carton of milk.

The two Hankins kids received the lunches for free as part of the Sioux City Community School District's Summer Food Program.

In fact, any child, ages 1 - 18, is eligible for a free lunch, Monday through Friday, at four metro school locations and on three mobile food buses.

Children can participate in the program, even if they aren't a community school district or a local resident. The only requirement is that they must consume the meal on site.

The Journal asked Sioux City Community School District Food Service Director Rich Luze five questions about what everyone should know about the Summer Food Program.

"The district has been offering a summer lunch program for the 24 years I've been with the district. We've had the mobile food buses for the past eight years. They're very visible and would be parked at location where they could be seen by families, like at the Leeds Splashpad, the Children's LaunchPad Museum and at the Riverside Pool."

I guess during those initial years, the buses would serve kids who were a long way from Sioux City, right?

"During that first year, we kept a journal for everyone to sign. Along with area kids, we were also serving children who were in town and visiting family members. We had a school administrator from Pennsylvania who wanted to see, firsthand, how the district was handling summer lunches. I remember we even had foreign students from as far away as South Korea and Japan. They were only here for the summer, but they wanted a typical American school lunch from us."

I guess the high point for the summer food program came at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. There would be long lines of parents in school parking lots, wanting hot meals for their kids.

"The government began loosening restrictions due to the pandemic with a grab-and-go policy. Children could take the lunch home with them as opposed to having to eat everything either inside the school or the buses. Once the grab-and-go policy was dropped, so did the number of lunches we served."

Why do you think there was such a serious drop-off?

"Your guess is as good as mine. Because of the decline, we had to drop the number of school locations as well as mobile food bus routes. Given the state of the economy, I'm sure many families are still experiencing food insecurities. I don't want this program to end because it is needed. But if families don't use it, they may lose it."

I'm looking at this month's lunch menu -- you're offering quality stuff like pizza, burritos and even Teriyaki Beef Dippers.

"The meals we serve in the summertime are the same as during the school year. We might have a cold option for a meal once or twice during a summer. Kids still like PB&J sandwiches after all. Still, a free hot meal is a great option to have."

2025 Summer Meal Program Details