Robbinsdale School District Launches Food Truck, Free Meals for Kids
Robbinsdale School District hits road to serve free mobile lunch
On a hot summer day, the splash pad at Robbinsdale’s Manor Park is the place to be.
But just a short walk away, you’ll find Kelley Robertson of the Robbinsdale School District doing her daily ritual — setting up a makeshift lunch counter on the sidewalk to serve free meals to children under the age of 18.
“It’s amazing that these kind of programs exist,” said Brandon Vesel, a Robbinsdale parent. “I know that with inflation rising, it’s tough to feed people. Let alone kids who, much like mine, are just like little pigs and eat as much as they can.”
From Monday through Friday for most of the summer, the district will set up a newly-purchased food truck at three different parks in the city:
- Sanborn Park in Robbinsdale from 11 to 11:30 a.m. Mon.-Fri, June 13 through Aug. 12.
- Manor Park in Robbinsdale from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Mon.-Fri., June 13 through Aug 12.
- Becker Park in Crystal from 12:30-1 p.m. Mon.-Fri., June 13 through Aug. 19.
The program launched on June 13, and Vesel has been at Robbindale’s Manor Park every day with his kids to take advantage.
“[The district] sent out an email saying, ‘hey this is a program that’s going to be going on this summer’ and, you know, let’s take advantage of it,” Vesel said.
For 30 minutes, the district will set up the truck at one of the parks to serve any kid wanting a meal. Once the 30 minutes is up, Robertson will get back in the truck and drive to the next destination.
“This idea came about during the pandemic,” said Kelsey Brommel, Robbinsdale’s assistant director of nutrition services. “We were serving students curbside when they were unable to eat indoors with us because they were learning remotely. And now that we’re back to pre-pandemic meal service, this allowed us to kind of continue what we started during the pandemic, serving our community.”
Alex Hendricks of Crystal eats lunch provided by the food truck with his children, Theo and Henry.
The idea is fresh, fun, food, which includes items like fruit, yogurt parfaits and pasta salad, among other items.
“It just seems like a really good mix,” Vesel said. “Healthy choices.”
The lunches will be available every summer in the district for the foreseeable future.
“We know that we’re doing something that is good for the community and the students are enjoying the meals,” Brommel said.
Meanwhile, Brommel explained that the meal service is part of the summer food service program operated by the USDA. The district purchased the van with a grant provided by nonprofit No Kid Hungry.
“We did not have to put any district dollars into this,” Brommel said. “But we are purchasing and serving the food with Robbinsdale Nutrition Services staff.”
See also: Osseo School District Provides Free Meals for Families
