______________
VALLEY STREAM
_____________
HERALD
Savings & Success!
Get Results. Sign Up Today!
Herald Inside lI webinars return
Peter King: A return to D.C.
Page 10
Page 23
Vol. 34 No. 10
MARCH 2 - 8, 2023
$1.00
DEADLINE EXTENDED
APRIL 3RD
THE LEADER IN PROP ERTY TAX REDUCT ION Sign up today. It onl y takes seconds. Apply online at mptrg .com/heraldnote or call 516.715.1266
Maidenbaum Property
Tax Reduction Grou
p, LLC 483 Chestnut
Hablamos Español Street, Cedarhurst, NY 11516
School meals no longer free, parents pay up By JUAN lAsso jlasso@liherald.com
Zoe Malin/Herald
PARENTs ARE oNCE again paying for their children’s school meals with the end of the federal universal school meal program, but inflation has food advocates worried they can’t afford it.
Parents of students in Valley Stream — as well as those across the country — are once again forced to pick up the tab for their children’s meals in school after lawmakers in Washington pulled the plug on the federally funded program. For the past year, a hot lunch and breakfast at school were guaranteed to millions of students across the country at no cost to families, thanks to the universal school meal program. In a shaky economy, parents of school-aged children —
struggling to earn just enough to keep up with basic living costs — came to depend on universally free meals to lighten their financial burden and keep their children fed. But with the pandemic largely in the rearview mirror, the federal government has decided not to extend the program, requiring parents to pay up on any accruing meal debt since the start of the school year last September. However, the move comes at a time when the persistent threat of hunger still hangs over many households. FamiContinued on page 4
V.S. author’s debut children’s book is an ode to fathers By BRENDAN CARPENTER bcarpenter@liherald.com
Growing up in Valley Stream, Devon Felix would often observe his father on his days off from work, getting into trouble around the house over little, silly things. He jotted down what he saw, and now Felix has written a children’s book about it. T h e 2 7 - ye a r- o l d a u t h o r released his debut book, “When Dad is Home,” in December, highlighting the exploits of his busybody dad, who is always doing something around the house. And everything he does has an impact on the family.
The fictional dad doesn’t exactly fit neatly into the stereotypes assigned to father figures. He’s not your clean-cut, handyman dad, and his efforts to fix things around the house often end in catastrophe. He tends to leave his shirts lying around the house, to the dismay of his wife and kids. Nor is he the stern, stoic disciplinarian with a soft heart. He openly cheers his kids at games and unabashedly sings and expresses his love for his wife. Instead, Felix sought to capture the real, unfiltered essence of a father being present in the lives of his children. All of the little things his dad
I
decided to just go ahead and start making my ideas come to life.
DEVoN FElIx Author
did account for “the funny aspect of the book,” Felix said. “I decided that it can’t just be funny, though. We also had to talk about the good things that my father does and that, most of all, nobody’s perfect. So, it was important to show people could
do things and it could be annoying and funny, but they also have a purpose as well.” In the book, Felix said he shows that while his fictional dad is funny, he is not cast as the “bumbling dad” often seen in the media. It’s his presence and authentic interactions with his family that earn him the love and respect of his loved ones.
Felix said his own journey to finish the book was rocky. He started writing it in 2019, but finally decided to get it published last year. He had to make a few edits to get the ending just right and communicate the important, more meaningful things that his father does for his family that Continued on page 4