We are excited to announce that Champ's Cafe will be offering free breakfast and free lunch to all students at our school starting August 10, 2016.  Eligible schools include the district's 10 elementaries, Charlotte Harbor Center, Baker Head Start Center, Port Charlotte Middle, The Academy and Murdock Middle. These 15 schools will each be offering all free meals to their students with no meal benefits applications needed from families.

This opportunity to feed breakfast and lunch to our students for free arises from a USDA program called CEP, Community Eligibility Program, a federally funded program in which schools qualify as a 'community' based on the number of economically needy students enrolled.

Students eligible for free meals sometimes ask why they cannot just select a milk or a piece of fruit instead of having to take several foods to equal a "meal". In order for the district to receive the federal funds that support the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs at Champ's Cafe, specific meal components must be served that make a complete USDA, United States Department of Agriculture meal. No federal reimbursement to the program is provided when a student selects just one or two items that do not meet the "meal" standard, so students are charged a la carte prices for these items. For an eligible student to receive a free meal, the student must select at least 3 foods, one of which must be one half cup of fruit or vegetable. Students are not required to eat a school breakfast or lunch at any school, but are invited to obtain select three foods to supplement their packed lunch, as long as one of the items is a fruit or vegetable.