Bettendorf expands summer meal service with parks partnership and $16,600 state grant

Michelle Riesen, the district’s nutrition services manager, told the Bettendorf Community School District Board on Sept. 25 that the district expanded its summer-meal program in 2025 by adding pop-up sites in public parks, increasing local procurement and using a state grant to cover added labor and operating costs. The change aimed to reach families in eligible attendance-area pockets that previously lacked nearby meal sites.

The expansion included rotating lunch service between McManus Park and Edgewood Park and adding Neil Armstrong Elementary and Grant Wood as school-site locations. Riesen said the district operated three weeks in June and three weeks in July, serving lunch only at those pop-up and school sites during the summer program.

Riesen said the district was awarded an Iowa summer-meal expansion grant of $16,600 to be split across three years, with the grant period running from June 2024 through September 2026. She said the grant helped pay for local food purchases and “the additional labor it takes to operate multiple locations,” including funding four positions in recent years to staff summer operations.

Riesen provided participation figures for the season: 684 lunches at pop-up park locations and 3,245 lunches at school sites, for a total of 3,929 lunches, plus 1,493 breakfasts served across 31 operating days. She said parks accounted for about 21% of the summer lunches and that the district served roughly 25% more summer lunches in 2025 than in 2024.

Riesen described how eligibility for hosting summer meal sites is determined by free-and-reduced-lunch rates and the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) identified student percentage: sites are commonly eligible when free-and-reduced enrollment in a school boundary is 50% or greater or when the district’s CEP-identified student percentage is greater than 40%, she said. She said the district used that eligibility mapping to target parks and school neighborhoods with higher need.

The presentation highlighted local procurement partners and outreach: Field of Family (an Iowa City food hub that supports farm-to-school efforts), Cravers Little Red Bar from Taylor Ridge, Illinois, and other local growers supplied produce and dairy items. Riesen said the district celebrated Iowa Eat Local Day at middle and high schools and planned elementary-level local-apple tastings in October.

Riesen also described operational changes during the regular school year that support healthier meals, including moving away from prepackaged items toward more made-from-scratch offerings, producing in-house bread for sandwich lines, and reducing sodium. She said those changes and new equipment at Bettendorf High School have increased student participation at made-to-order stations.

Supervising staff and board members praised Riesen and her team for expanding access and for the national recognition the nutrition program recently received. The board took no formal action on the presentation; it was provided for information and to recognize the department’s work.

Riesen asked the public to note that summer sites are open to all children with no sign-up or paperwork required and that the program’s funding and participation model is sensitive to weather and attendance.

The district said it will continue partnerships with parks and outside food hubs as it evaluates future summer service locations.