In Butler County, 26 percent of school-age children are eligible for free or reduced school lunches, which means those students get more than just an education at public schools.

These 7,000 youths would miss roughly 420,000 meals over the summer that would typically be provided at school during the academic year at lunches five days a week.

Under the summer food program started five years ago, schools, summer programs, churches and other community organizations have provided meals to children. Many sites also offer activities for participants in addition to the free meals.

Help comes from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Food Security Partnership that participate in the USDA's Summer Food Service Program, according to Beth Snyder with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

Bill Halle of the Grace Youth and Family Foundation in Butler said the foundation is sponsoring the program this year, and he stressed that there are no income requirements for children to participate.

Any child between 5 and 18 years old who lives in the county can register for the program through the foundation. No paperwork is required to participate.

Because the Butler School District has more than 50 percent of its students qualifying for free and reduced lunches, the Pennsylvania Department of Education allows the area to offer open enrollment.

In other districts where that is not the case, any food program for low-income students would require applications, Halle said.

Last year, the Butler program served 6,500 meals to 300 to 370 children, Halle said.

That number has remained steady, but Halle believes there are many more children who could benefit. However, growth is not feasible, he said.

“We have the ability to do more, but it's difficult with the lack of funding right now,” he said.

Because the program also relies on state reimbursement, which is not sufficient alone, the program only breaks even, Halle said.

Beginning Monday and running to Aug. 19, two meals a day will be served with recreational and educational activities after.

For lunch, there are two parks that serve meals, Rotary Park and Father Marinaro Park, at noon Monday to Friday.

Dinners will be available at the Institute Hill Playground at 4:30 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.

While there will be activities at the other sites, the YMCA, at 339 N. Washington St., will be a food-only site, with lunch served at noon Monday through Friday.

For the sites that include activities, these range from educational activities to arts and crafts. The program will have multiple science-based projects, including letting the students make ice cream and learn how to work with different materials.

Other activities include a giant version of the popular game Angry Birds, complete with what Halle calls “massive slingshots” that will be repurposed during a huge water war sometime this summer.

On the artistic side, the projects also will include drawing, painting and some musical activities as well.

Other partners for the Butler program include the Butler County 4-H program with the Penn State Extension, the Boy Scouts and churches, Halle said. The Boy Scouts will host a go-cart race one day as well.

In addition, Halle said Butler is providing $7,900 in financial support.

Because the program relies heavily on donations, the foundation always is accepting volunteers and donations, Halle said.

To register a child for the program or to donate, contact Halle at the Grace Youth and Family Foundation at 724-282-0507.

The Karns City School District also is sponsoring the food program for children under 18, according to Michele Merchant, district food service director.

Again, there are no qualifications to be met since it is through the state's reimbursement plan, and students do not have to preregister for this program either.

The lunches will be available at Karns City High School at 11:30 a.m. Monday to Thursday, and possibly on Fridays, to be determined, from Aug. 1 to Aug. 24.

Because other organizations that the district previously partnered with have dropped out, the district cannot provide services for other summer months, Merchant said.

Children looking for food in the area simply must arrive at the high school, Merchant said. In previous years, the school has served about 75 children each day, a number that has stayed steady.

But Merchant admitted she's not sure how children in need of food manage when school is not in session and the program isn't running.

“I'm not sure how (students get through the rest of the year),” she said, but she believes there are churches and a food bank in the Karns City area that help relieve some of that hunger. “That's the possibility of where they're going.”

For now, Merchant is unsure of how to increase youth participation.

“I think there's probably more (children) that could benefit from this,” she said. “We've tried to find other ways to get them to come, but it's kind of hard.”

In previous years, the program had been at multiple locations including parks to try to encourage younger children or children who have to walk to show up.

Part of the reason more children may not participate is because they are afraid of being stigmatized as low-income children, according to Merchant.

To register, which is optional and done to help with food preparation, contact Merchant at 724-756-2030, Ext. 1015, or at mmerchant@kcasdk12.org.

Any organizations or individuals interested in learning more about how to become involved with the summer food program can contact the Southwestern Pennsylvania Food Security Partnership by e-mail at partnership@gpcfb.org.