By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Students at Meadow View Elementary School will have a chance to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables three days a week after the school recently received a more than $50,000 federal grant.

MVES received the U.S. Department of Agriculture grant through the state Department of Education’s Child Nutrition Department, said ACS Child Nutrition Director Heather McDermott.

“It’s a free snack to the students three days a week,” McDermott said, noting MVES staff members will promote healthy snack choices among students, and will explain how each snack benefits them.

McDermott said MVES was the only Alabaster school eligible for the grant, as more than 50 percent of the school’s students are on the free- and reduced-price lunch program.

During a recent Alabaster Board of Education meeting, Alabaster School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers praised McDermott for applying for and receiving the grant.

“It’s certainly going to benefit our children,” Vickers said.