Washington-Morgan Community Action will sponsor the Summer Food Service Program, offering free grab-and-go meals to children this summer.

Meals will be available to children 18 and younger, as well as people older than 18 who have been determined by a state or local public educational agency to be medically or physically disabled. The program begins Monday, June 8, with meals served Monday through Friday at sites in Beverly, Lower Salem, Lowell, Vincent, Belpre, Marietta and New Matamoras.

The organization will also provide shelf-stable breakfasts for the week to children who attend the summer feeding sites, along with weekend meal packs.

Families are asked to call the central kitchen at 740-373-3455 and indicate which site they plan to use. Calls should be made the day before or before 8 a.m. the day a child would like a meal.

According to a release from Washington-Morgan Community Action, school lunch and breakfast have become principal meals of the day for a growing number of children, and those meals are not available through schools during the summer months. The release also said studies show children who do not receive proper nutrition over the summer can begin school six months behind their peers, making the summer nutrition program an important component of school readiness.

Meal sites include:

* Beverly Presbyterian Church, 200 Fourth St., Beverly, 12:30 to 1 p.m.

* Lower Salem Village Hall, Ohio 821, Lower Salem, 12:30 to 1 p.m.

* Lowell Elementary School, 305 Market St., Lowell, 11:30 a.m. to noon.

* Warren Middle School sports shelter, 70 Warrior Drive, Vincent, 12:30 to 1 p.m.

* Miss T’s Monkey Hut parking lot, 602 Stone Road, Belpre, noon to 12:30 p.m.

* Washington School playground, 401 Washington St., Marietta, 11:30 a.m. to noon.

* Carrol Senior Center, 606 Broadway Ave., New Matamoras, 12:30 to 1 p.m.

Washington-Morgan Community Action is a nonprofit organization serving Washington and Morgan counties. It began in 1967 and provides services including health care and meal delivery.

For more information about the Summer Food Service Program, contact Jessica Stanley at 740-373-3745 or jstanley@wmcap.org.