This summer, the Piñon Project is offering free lunches for children ages 1 to 18 at the Dolores Library.
No sign-up is required - just show up at the library on weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The free lunch program addresses child nutrition needs in an area of low income, said Dave Hart, health program director for Piñon.
"Our goal is to improve child nutrition and cut child obesity, which food scarcity actually contributes to," Hart said.
The program is funded in part by a grant from the Colorado Health Foundations.
Dolores is considered a low-income community because 50 percent of students at Dolores Schools qualify for free and reduced lunches.
"That number keeps rising due to high unemployment in the area," said Dolores School Superintendent Scott Cooper.
The lunches are provided by Care and Share, a food bank for southern Colorado. The organization estimates that there are 4,130 individuals in Montezuma County with food insecurity, or 16 percent of the population of 25,500.
"We know more kids could use it, so we are trying to get the word out," Hart said. "All children are eligible."
Twenty to 30 lunches are served per day, with more during library events and classes for children.
Last year, Dolores School offered a food backpack program that sent food home with needy kids over the weekend.
The free lunch program targeted the Cortez community last year.
