It's a hectic scene as the 30 or so kids at Calais summer day camp arrive, chasing each other around the gymnasium, bouncing basketballs and grabbing breakfast from a cooler.

"They can pick either cereal or like a baked good, and then they get juice or milk," said day camp director Cadence Braughton.

Braughton said breakfast was added after many of the kids, who arrive as early as 7:30 a.m., complained of being hungry.

"And some of the kids don't have snacks that they bring from home, so the breakfast is a really good filler until they get that lunch," she said.

Free meals are a key support for students during the school year in Maine, but summer vacation can create a void. Summer meal programs, which have bridged some of that gap, are helping to meet demand.

And it's a relief for par

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