WOONSOCKET – The Woonsocket Education Department won’t be providing meals at the World War II Veterans Memorial Park splash pad this summer, school officials confirm, but they will still be served at three schools.
Supt. Patrick McGee told The Local Insider they are still offering summer meal programs at Globe Park Elementary School, Woonsocket, High School, and Pothier-Citizens’ Elementary School. All three locations are at least 1.5 miles from the splash pad.
McGee didn’t offer the rationale for the change, but Bonnie Piekarski, of the Milagros Project, stated how the schools have lost money due to lower enrollments.
Piekarski said this lost resource represents “a major cut for food to our young people. Woonsocket has a 28 percent child poverty rate and 15 percent in extreme poverty, she said, meaning many depend on school meals to provide nutrition.
“What folks aren’t understanding is that when you continue to push young people and families into deeper desperation, they often turn to other means to be able support themselves and family,” said Piekarski. “We are quick to blame our young people for the fighting and violence that they partake in, but not the symptom, which is poverty.”
There are no income requirements, registration forms, or ID checks required to participate in the meal program, which is run in partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Education.
The Milagros Project will be hosting a fundraiser in June to raise funds and food to help feed local children this summer.
“It really takes the community to wrap around the kids,” said Piekarski.
Renee Gomes, of the Wildflower Misfit Collective, thanked Sen. Melissa Murray for clarifying that city families will still have access to summer meal programs at three locations.
Gomes said her organization will continue bridging the gap for families near World War II Park through community donations and free shop days.
