Summer may mean a break from the classroom, but for the Bay District Schools Food Service team, the work of taking care of students didn’t stop when the final bell rang.

Between June 1 and August 4, BDS served an incredible 41,617 meals to children across Bay County through the 2026 Summer BreakSpot Program.

That’s 16,186 breakfasts and 25,431 lunches, thousands of meals helping ensure children throughout our community continued to have access to nutritious food while school was out.

And that kind of impact takes a team.

Meals were served through BDS programs at seven school sites, including Bay Base, Extended School Year and Summer Reading Camp programs. But the reach extended well beyond our campuses thanks to partnerships throughout the community.

BDS Food Service also provided meals at four Boys & Girls Club locations, two Girls Inc. locations, two ASAP locations and Head Start at A.D. Harris.

Each of those locations represented another opportunity to reach children where they were spending their summer and another reminder of what can happen when our schools and community organizations work together.

Behind those 41,617 meals were dedicated BDS Food Service employees, school staff, community organizations and our partners at Chartwells, all working together throughout the summer to make sure children had a healthy breakfast or lunch waiting for them.

To everyone who prepared, packed, served, transported and helped make those meals accessible to our families: thank you.

Because feeding students isn’t just a school-year job. It’s part of taking care of our kids...all year long.