City of Seattle to offer free summer meals and activities for children

SEATTLE - The City of Seattle will begin hosting a drop-in summer program offering free meals and recreation activities at 11 parks across the city starting Wednesday.

The program, a partnership between Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Seattle Human Services Department and United Way of King County, will run weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Aug. 25.

Children and teens ages 1 to 18 are eligible for a free lunch and snack, while recreation activities are open to kids 5 to 18. Activities may include arts, crafts, board games and organized games, according to a press release from the city.

Children do not have to sign up or provide proof of identity or legal status to receive the free meals, but kids and teens need to be present to receive a meal. The meals also need to be eaten on-site due to a change in federal program rules.

Parks participating in the program include:

• Beacon Hill Playground on 13th Avenue South
• Brighton Playground on 39th Avenue South
• Georgetown Park on Homer Street
• Highland Park on Southwest Cloverdale Street
• Lakeridge Park on Holyoke Way South
• Little Brook Park on 32nd Avenue Northeast
• John C. Little Sr. Park on 37th Avenue South
• North Acres Park on First Avenue Northeast
• Powell Barnett Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Way
• Edwin T. Pratt Park on 20th Avenue South
• Roxhill Park on Southwest Roxbury Street

Select community centers in Seattle will also provide summer meals. A full list of those locations is available on the City of Seattle's website. United Way of King County also has a list of free summer meal locations across the region on its Summer Meals Site Finder or text the word "Food" to 304-304.