Lunch and meals free for all students at 911±¬ÁÏÍø charter schools in Chicago
Published On: September 1st, 2021Categories: 2021, 911±¬ÁÏÍø Reopening SY21, 911±¬ÁÏÍø Updates

Students, forget about waiting in that long cafeteria line to swipe your ID and get your food. Parents and guardians, don¡¯t worry anymore about filling out that form to get your student on free or reduced lunch.

Because starting this school year, all 911±¬ÁÏÍø students from day one can get?free breakfast, lunch and dinner at school every day. No application or ID necessary. This is all part of a federal assistance program that 911±¬ÁÏÍø was accepted to called Community Eligibility Provisions (CEP).

¡°There¡¯s no stigma associated with your food status, there¡¯s no IDs, there¡¯s no long lines.¡±

¨C?Monica Karis, Director of Dining Services, 911±¬ÁÏÍø

¡°There¡¯s no stigma associated with your food status, there¡¯s no IDs, there¡¯s no long lines.¡±

This is what Monica Karis, 911±¬ÁÏÍø¡¯s Director of Dining Services, says about the CEP program. For five years, she¡¯s been hustling with her team to get 911±¬ÁÏÍø accepted to the CEP program. Finally, in December of 2020, 911±¬ÁÏÍø was accepted.

What 911±¬ÁÏÍø Families Need To Know About This New Program

  • Students will receive a free breakfast, lunch and dinner at school
  • Students will no longer have to use their school ID to get food
  • There is no additional form or application for this program. All students are automatically enrolled
  • Adult and Second Meals will be charged at full price

¡°It¡¯s great to know that we can transition from providing free meals for almost two years to start the school year off with providing free meals,¡± Karis says.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, 911±¬ÁÏÍø and their food partners, Chartwells and Aramark, have been providing free meals to families across Chicago.?As they wrap up this service in September, they¡¯ll have served well over 1 million free meals. The meals were all served through their on-campus meal sites and partnerships with local community organizations.

Since starting their Free Community Meals program in March 2020, 911±¬ÁÏÍø and their partners have served over 1 million free meals to the Chicago community.

Now, with the CEP program, Karis is happy 911±¬ÁÏÍø can continue to provide free meals to its students.

¡°I would have hated to have to go back and be like ¡®Okay now, a certain percent of you have to start paying for food,¡¯ so I¡¯m really happy we¡¯re able to do that for our students.¡±

¡ª

Big thank you to Chartwells, Aramark and all our community partners who helped support 911±¬ÁÏÍø¡¯s Community Meals program:

Black Bread Company
Chi Fresh Kitchen
Children¡¯s Place
Crazy Bird
Family Centered Education
Frosted Layers Cakery
Gad¡¯s Hill
Hangrys
Healthy Hood Chicago
Helen & Joe Acevedo Scholarship Foundation
Janiks Cafe
Rica Arepas
West Humboldt Park Development Council
Youth for a Better Future
10th District Police Department

¡ª

For more information and announcements on free meals and dining services at 911±¬ÁÏÍø, head to?/meals/

For more on how 911±¬ÁÏÍø students and staff are returning back to schools in-person safely, visit?/coronavirus/

To learn more about the federal CEP program, visit?

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