A recent summer “Free Lunch+Play” attendee in the Portland Parks and Recreation program. (Courtesy of PP&R)

Portland Parks and Recreation’s “Free Lunch+Play” program returned to Creston, Mt. Scott, and Essex parks on June 23rd. New this summer: While chowing down on some free grub, Southeast Portland kids could also get the chance to listen to opera, learn about insects, and to try out roller skating.

“Free Lunch+Play” feeds those age 18 and younger every weekday through the summer, at parks across the city. PP&R announced on June 10th that more than half of Portland Public Schools’ students qualify for free or reduced lunch. So free Lunch+Play seeks to fill the “summer lunch gap” – when children and teens might be eating less than normal.

The 2020 Parks Local Option Levy, which taxes Portlanders 80 cents on every $1,000 of their assessed property value, helps fund the Free Lunch+Play programming. According to a 2024 open letter from Deputy City Administrator Sonia Schmanski, the levy paid for 117,950 free meals in the last two summers.

Free Lunch+Play also offers special events. This summer in Southeast Parks, kids will be able to make arts and crafts and check out animal pelts for free, like they did in 2024. In 2025, they will also be visited by roller skating and opera programs.

The Rose City Rollers will park their “Skatemobile” at Creston Park on July 17th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., where they will distribute 150 free rental skates. They encourage attendees to bring socks.

Portland Opera will bring music to Mt. Scott Park on July 25th from 11:30 a.m.  to 1 p.m. as part of their “Opera a la Carte” free tour.

In addition, PP&R’s Traveling Nature Museum will bring bugs, pelts, and science activities to Creston Park on July 11, Mt. Scott Park July 18, and to Essex Park on August 5 – in each case, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Multnomah Arts Center’s “Arts in the Parks” program will make its way back through Southeast Portland a few times this summer – helping kids get creative at Mt. Scott Park July 1-3 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and August 19-22 from 10:30-2 p.m.; at Essex Park July 15-18 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and at Creston Park July 15-18 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again August 19-22 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Both Essex and Creston parks will host their daily free lunches from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., while Mt. Scott Park will host its lunch from noon until 1:30 pm.

More information, as well as non-English-speaking schedules, can be found here, online – https://tinyurl.com/mtuuessy