A picnic at the park five days a week. That’s the highlight of the day for hundreds of Manteca Unified School District children during the summer.
There’s free food and drinks that not only taste good but are also nutritious. On special days, they get to enjoy hot dogs barbecued fresh on site.
All that is courtesy of the annual – at least, since three years ago – Summer Seamless Program for children ages 2 to 18 offered by the Nutrition Services of Manteca Unified. This year, the program started on June 3 and will run through July 31. The sack lunches are distributed on scheduled hours at 35 different park locations in Manteca, Lathrop and Weston Ranch during weekdays, with the exception of Friday, July 4, which is a holiday.
The program keeps growing every year, said Summer Food Program coordinator Stephanie Huff. There are 1,000 more youngsters taking part in the program this year than last year, she noted.
The sack lunches are free to all the children. They don’t have to register or bring an ID when they go to the park for the food.
There are 10 routes, each with two people making four stops, that get the food to all the 35 parks between 11 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. – schedules for the different sites vary – Monday to Friday during the summer. There is a different schedule for the barbecued hot dogs because it’s not offered as often as the sack lunches.
Below are the various park locations in Manteca, Lathrop, French Camp, and Weston Ranch for the free sack lunches:
MANTECA LOCATIONS
• Northgate Park, 1750 Hoyt Lane (11-11:30 a.m.)
• Villa Ticino Park, 1970 Geneva Way (11-11:30 a.m.)
• Sequoia Park, 868 Wawona St. (11-11:30 a.m.)
• Southside Park, 409 Oreson St. (11-11:30 a.m.)
• Doxey Park, 1355 Northgate Drive (11-11:30 a.m.)
• Raymus Park, 5888 E. Apache Drive (11-11:30 a.m.)
• Springtime Park, 1268 Springtime Ave. (11-11:30 a.m.)
• St. Francis Park, 1273 Devonshire Ave. (11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.)
• Franciscan Park, 1041 Elm Ave. (11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.)
• Shasta Park, 955 E. Edison St. (11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.)
• Graystone Park, 810 Agate Ave. (11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.)
• Rodoni Park, 1006 Lucio St. (11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.)
• Roberts Estates, 1740 Rail St. (12:30-1 p.m.)
• Lincoln Park, 245 Powers Ave. (12:30-1 p.m.)
• Diamond Oaks Park, 1179 Pestana Ave. (12:30-1 p.m.)
• B&C Giles Memorial Park, 545 W. Alameda St. (12:30-1 p.m.)
• Chadwick Square Park, 1953 London Ave. (12:30-1 p.m.)
• Spreckels BMX Park, 941 Spreckels Ave. (12:30 – 1 p.m.)
• Morenzone Ballfield, 1323 W. Center St (1:15-1:45 p.m.)
• Colony Park, 1232 Trailwood Ave (1:15-1:45 p.m.(
• Cotta Park, 505 Mission Ridge Dr (1:15-1:45 p.m.)
• Sandpiper Village, 1820 Pennebaker Way (1:15-1:45 p.m.)
• Hildebrand Park, 431 Pine St (1:15-1:45 p.m.)
• Library Park, 320 W. Center St (1:15-1:45 p.m.)
• Union West Park, 1291 Parkview St (1:15-1:45 p.m.)
LATHROP LOCATIONS
• Sangalang Park, 13470 Slate St (11 -11:30 a.m.)
• Valverde Park, 15557 Fifth St (11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
• Mossdale Landing Park, 700 Towne Centre Dr (11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.)
• Generations Skate Park, across from Lathrop High School (11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.)
• Libby Park, 575 Libby Lane (12:30-1 p.m.)
• Park West, 16130 Sheltered Cove Circle (1:15 – 1:45 p.m.)
WESTON RANCH LOCATIONS
• Paul E. Weston Park, 3602 EWS Wood Blvd (11-11:30 a.m.)
• Long Park, 4535 Woodchase Lane (11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
• Smith Park, 2606 Wm Moss Blvd (12:30 – 1 p.m.)
• Weston Ranch Library, 1453 French Camp Road (11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.)
FRENCH CAMP
• Good Shepherd Church, 305 E. French Camp Road (11:45 am. – 12:15 p.m.)
For any questions about the food summer program, call 858-0778.
