MLK Community Center’s summer programs at the core of a stronger Newport

With summer in full swing, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center (MLK Community Center) is helping to keep children healthy while school is out. The MLK Community Center provides free meals to children during the summer.

This summer, meals are served daily at the MLK Community Center’s Summer Adventure Camp for children enrolled in the program.  There are no income requirements to participate in this meal program – all students participate – and generous scholarships are provided to families to offset the overall cost of camp. Scholarships are made possible through community support of the MLK.

The MLK Community Center’s Summer Adventure Camp in Newport currently serves 48 students for this 8-week literacy, science, and math-based summer program. Rising 1^st graders to rising 5^th grade students enjoy: daily experiential learning-based field trips; daily lesson plans taught by certified teachers; daily physical fitness programming; programming in the Creativity Lab exploring science, technology, engineering, art, & math (STEAM) concepts; weekly nutrition education; and much more.

Many students in Newport County and throughout the State rely on daily free or reduced cost breakfast and lunch throughout the school year. So, what happens during the summertime? Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture partners with local organizations like the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center to provide free meals to children when school is out for the summer. For more information about the national Summer Food Service Program, visit: www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/summer. For more information on summer food sites near you, including locations and serving times around the State, contact United Way of Rhode Island by dialing 211.

Services of MLK Center:

This was filmed prior to COVID19: