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Millennials say they are wasteful, self absorbed TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
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Donations beat last summer’s total United Ministries director thankful for community’s help, partnership BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Sumter United Ministries Summer of Caring ended last week with $7,350 raised from
Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend. This exceeded last year’s campaign of $5,542 by more than $1,800, bringing the total raised during the two summers to $12,712.
The initiative was a partnership between Sumter United Ministries and The Sumter Item, raising money for the organization’s three charities of Crisis Relief Ministry, Emergency Shelter and Construction Ministry.
“Any time you start something new, it may take some time for people to catch on, but with the Summer of Caring, we’ve had really great results,” said Mark Champagne, Sumter United Ministries executive director. “We’re extremely grateful for the partnership and the donations.” Jack Osteen, editor and publisher of The Sumter Item,
said the newspaper is pleased to be a part of Summer of Caring and Sumter United Ministries for a second summer. “We succeeded in increasing donations over our inaugural year by about 25 percent, and I hope we can continue to build on that each
SEE CARING, PAGE A7
Mystery meat? Not for Sumter School District students
PHOTOS BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY / THE SUMTER ITEM
Chef salad was an option on the menu for students at Oakland Primary School on Friday. Sumter School District is serving healthier meals as a result of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. “It was a challenge figuring out how to make meals healthier but at the same time tasty and appealing to the children, but it has worked well,” said Leon Williams, the district’s director of school food and nutrition programs.
Study shows more children now eating healthier meals BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com
A student at Oakland Primary School pours some dressing on his salad on Friday.
Chef salad, seasoned corn, fresh baby carrots, blue raspberry applesauce, bananas and whole wheat breadsticks were just some of the healthy sides offered on Sumter School District’s elementary school lunch menu on Friday. For the past several years, district students have eaten healthier breakfasts, lunches and snacks at schools as a result of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
The federal act, implemented in 2010, gave the U.S. Department of Agriculture the ability to make changes to school lunch programs for the first time in more than 30 years. The act made improvements in the nutrition of foods and beverages served in cafeterias and sold in vending machines. The district has seen these changes firsthand. One of the requirements stemming from the act is portion size in number of calories served per meal, according to Leon Williams, the district’s director of school food and nutrition services.
Get a ‘Taste of the South’ at local farmers market BY IVY MOORE ivy@theitem.com The Downtown Sumter Farmers Market will celebrate the advent of autumn on Saturday with a special event called Taste of the South. The Farm Store’s Mike Dellinger, who coordinates the market, has invited several members of the South Carolina Specialty Food Association to
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bring their products to the market for tastings and demonstrations during the morning. All members of the organization grow or make their products in the state, he said. Taste of the South is an effort to make people aware of the state’s specialty foods industry, according to Dellinger, who said that, while this is not
SEE TASTE, PAGE A4
SEE MEALS, PAGE A7
New study suggests we could see fewer, weaker hurricanes in Atlantic SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO
Mike Dellinger of DMF Farm and The Farm Store works on his farm. Also in charge of the Downtown Sumter Farmers Market, he has arranged a special event for Saturday, Taste of the South.
DEATHS, B5 Cecile K. Davidson Carrie Hodge Jessie Jackson Estelle W. Simon Peggy W. Roberts
The new meals are providing children more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean protein and low-fat dairy as well as less sugar, fat and sodium. Williams said all of the food served at the district has to be at least 50 percent whole grain. All milk has to be 1 percent or fat free, and four fruits or vegetables are required at each meal. “It was a challenge figuring out how to make meals healthier but at the same time tasty and appealing to the
Samuel Murray Sr. John M. Bramlett Jarvis O. Vance Kenneth I. Anderson
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new but controversial study asks if an end is coming to the busy Atlantic hurricane seasons of recent decades. The Atlantic looks like it is entering into a new, quieter cycle of storm activity, like in the 1970s and 1980s,
two prominent hurricane researchers wrote Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience. Scientists at Colorado State University, including the professor who pioneered hurricane seasonal
SEE HURRICANES, PAGE A4
WEATHER, A10
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A storm possible this afternoon and this evening HIGH 88, LOW 72
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