TPS Summer Café Program Provides Meals Available For All Children In Tulsa

Tulsa Public Schools' Summer Café opens Wednesday, May 22 and is available for all children in Tulsa. The program has been helping to feed children for more than 30 years.

The Summer Café service is available at more than 80 sites around Tulsa Monday through Friday starting May 22 until Monday, August 19.

Sheila Russell said more than 150,000 meals were served in 2023 through the TPS Summer Café program. The district established the program to ensure that children have access to nutritious meals during the summer when they are not in school.

The program is open to anyone 18 years old or younger. The kids must eat the meals on-site.

This year, Russell said students will also receive nutrition education from a nutrition coordinator that includes learning the importance of balanced meals, how food is grown, and the impact of nutrition on the body.

“Reaching as many children as we can. With the cost of food going up and things like that, we want to make sure that they have access to healthy meals every day, hot meals. So, just like the manager was talking to me today, she goes, 'I love that I have a hot meal for that child and I know they’re going to get a hot meal for that day.'”

Breakfast is usually served between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m., and lunch is served between 10:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.