A Bounty of Free Food, but a Scarcity of Takers : Hunger: Summer meals program for low-income children reaches few of those who are eligible.

Free string cheese, chocolate milk and peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches will be available to needy children throughout Orange County as part of a summer meals program that starts this week. But officials don’t expect many takers.

Ever since the Free Summer Lunch Program began in 1991, fewer than 10% of the eligible children have received the food.

Officials based in Garden Grove say they are trying to boost awareness of the program, which is meant to ensure that children begin the regular school year on a healthy note, but face a number of obstacles.

They say that program sponsors--agencies that administer, serve and publicize the meals--are scarce, and that it is difficult to win converts because sponsors are turned off by the massive paperwork associated with administering a federal program.

And while other counties also report serving only a fraction of their eligible children, officials say the perception remains that hunger cannot happen here in Orange County.

“This is the golden county,” is what meals program coordinator Annette Jewell hears. “Everyone has what they need, and more.”

Figures for this summer are not yet available, but last year, more than 134,000 Orange County children under 18 were eligible for the program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, only 9,800 children a day were served. The year before, more than 122,000 children were eligible, but just over 9,300 a day were served.

This year, officials say, the number of meal sites is 64, down from 70 last year, and they do not expect to reach more than 10% of the county’s eligible children.

Depending on whether local schools are on a year-round schedule, programs in the various county cities run from four weeks to two months, and typically end by September. Garden Grove-based Community Development Council acts as the umbrella agency for the meals program.

Jewell, a projects manager with the development council, said she will continue to knock on the doors of potential sponsors, asking them to operate a meal site, but she said there are a finite number.

The sponsors--which range from private, nonprofit groups to cities--are reimbursed by the Agriculture Department for administering and serving the meals. The meals can range from beef burritos to Monday’s lunch at a Santa Ana recreation center of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

But officials acknowledge that the paperwork, which asks for everything from a sponsor’s budget to the ethnic breakdown of the children it serves, can be intimidating.

“If you haven’t had any previous experience with it,” said Jewell, whose organization sponsors an application workshop, “it can be daunting.”

In addition, food servers must be trained to monitor the programs. Federal guidelines, for example, require that all meals be eaten on-site, and prohibit mothers who bring their children from partaking of the meals.

If the rules are not followed, sponsoring agencies are dropped from the program.

Agencies that agree to sponsor meals are partially responsible for outreach, which includes posting flyers at area recreation centers and schools.

A site will automatically qualify to serve the meals if more than 50% of the students at the nearest school qualify for free meals during the school year, Jewell said. Otherwise, sponsors must prove that the children they serve come from families living at or below the poverty line. For a family of four, the cut off is $27,380 per year.

Monday, Santa Ana launched its summer meal program, which is sponsored by the city’s recreation and community services agency.

On hand was Maria Barajas, 26, a single mother with four children. Barajas said that her husband recently died, and in January she was laid off from her job as a silk-screener. She is now on welfare.

So on Monday, at the recommendation of a friend, Barajas found herself at the El Salvador Community Center, one of Santa Ana’s lunch sites.

The program, she said, “helps a lot of people.”

And, said Jewell, “you don’t stop feeding those 9,000 because you can’t feed the rest. You just try to reach as many as you can.”

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Food for Free A free lunch program for needy children begins this week throughout Orange County. Meals are served Monday through Friday for children 18 years and younger; hours vary. Here is a partial list of the locations: ANAHEIM * Ponderosa Park Community Center: 2100 S. Haster St. * George Washington Center: 250 E. Cypress St. * Jeffrey-Lynne Community Center: 1633 Jeffrey Drive * Anaheim Independent Community Center: 10841 Garza Ave. * Brookhurst Community Park: 2271 Crescent Ave. * Manzanita Park: 1260 Riviera St. * Schweitzer Park: 328 S. Bel Air St. * John Marshall Park: La Palma Avenue at Romneya Drive BREA * Boys & Girls Club of Brea: 502 S. Sievers Ave. BUENA PARK * Whitaker Elementary School: 8401 Montana St. * Gilbert Elementary School: 7255 W. 8th St. COSTA MESA * Whittier Elementary School: 1800 N. Whittier Ave. * Sonora Elementary School: 966 Sonora Road * Lions Park: Anaheim Avenue and 18th Street FULLERTON * Valencia Park Elementary School: 3441 W. Valencia Drive * Independence Park: 801 W. Valencia Drive GARDEN GROVE * Lawrence Elementary School: 12521 Monroe St. * Parkview Elementary School: 12272 Wilken Way * Santiago High School: 12342 Trask Ave. * Rancho High School: 11351 Dale St. LA HABRA * Boys & Girls Club of La Habra: 1211 Fahringer Way ORANGE * El Modena High School: 3920 Spring St. * La Veta Elementary School: 2800 E. La Veta St. * Friendly Center: 147 W. Rose Ave. SAN CLEMENTE * St. Clement’s Episcopal Church: 202 Avenida Aragon SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO * San Juan Capistrano Elementary School: 31642 El Camino Real SANTA ANA * Memorial Recreation Center: 2102 S. Flower Ave. * El Salvador Center: 1825 W. Civic Center Drive * Madison Park: 1528 S. Standard Ave. * Jerome Recreation Center: 726 S. Center St. * Santa Anita Recreation Center: 300 S. Figueroa St. * Episcopal Church of the Messiah: 640 N. Bush St. * Salvation Army Youth Center: 1710 W. Edinger Ave. * Russell Elementary School: 600 S. Jackson St. STANTON * Stanton Park: 11161 Beach Blvd. TUSTIN * Frontier Park: 1400 Mitchell Ave. WESTMINSTER * Post Elementary School: 14641 Ward St.