Marietta City Schools will serve free meals to children this summer, helping families stretch their budgets during the break.
🍽️ Why It Matters: More than one in five kids face food insecurity during summer when school meals aren’t available. This program ensures no child goes hungry just because school is out.
📅 What’s Happening: Marietta City Schools will provide free breakfast and lunch through the Seamless Summer Option program from June 2 through July 25. All children under 18 qualify, along with adults over 18 who have state-defined mental or physical disabilities.
Families don’t need to register, prove income, or live in Marietta to get meals.
🗺️ Where To Find Food: More than 30 locations across Cobb County will distribute meals during the program. The district plans to release a complete list of pickup sites, dates and times soon.
“Summer should be a season where every child feels safe, supported, and well-fed,” said Cindy Culver, Director of School Nutrition for Marietta City Schools. “This program helps ensure that no child goes hungry just because school is out.”
🏠 The Big Picture: Summer meal programs have become essential safety nets for families nationwide. When regular school meals disappear for three months, many parents struggle to fill the gap. These programs help bridge that divide while giving kids the nutrition they need to stay healthy and active during break.
How to Read and Understand the News
Truth doesn’t bend because we dislike it.
Facts don’t vanish when they make us uncomfortable.
Events happen whether we accept them or not.
Good reporting challenges us. The press isn’t choosing sides — it’s relaying what official, verified sources say. Blaming reporters for bad news is like blaming a thermometer for a fever.
Americans have a history of misunderstanding simple things. In the 1980s, A&W rolled out a 1/3-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. It failed because too many people thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If we can botch basic math, we can certainly misread the news.
Before dismissing a story, ask yourself:
- What evidence backs this?
- Am I reacting to facts or feelings?
- What would change my mind?
- Am I just shooting the messenger?
And one more: Am I assuming bias just because I don’t like the story?
Smart news consumers seek truth, not comfort.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
