School’s Out for Summer but Lunch Is In
Children across Barnesville and surrounding areas can receive a free lunch this summer packed and ready to go by volunteers wanting to make a difference for children.
The board of directors of the Barnesville Summer Lunch Program kicked it off Monday as volunteers visited the Main Street Methodist Church to prepare and pack meals to deliver to children in Barnesville and surrounding areas.
The program, that costs about $17,000 a year to fund, currently has three routes that deliver sandwiches, such as peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese, bologna and cheese, hot dogs, sloppy joes and taco in a bag, to Barnesville, Bethesda, Belmont, Morristown and Somerton houses.
The program started Monday and will run until the Friday before school starts in August with the exception of July 4 and weekends.
The summer lunches are designed to feed children who may not have access to food during the months they are out of school. A parent thought of the idea for the summer lunches 15 years ago when her young boy wanted to bring an extra lunch to school for some of his friends that didn’t get to eat. The mom then contacted friends and church leaders to start the program.
The program has grown since, starting with just a small number of lunches and expanding to making more than 200 sandwiches a day now.
“We want to make sure that children who need a meal get a meal,” Henderson said.
She added every child does not have what an ideal family has, so they are filling a gap in that way. Blattler said a meal is a basic necessity.
The directors go to Sam’s Club to get the food for the lunches, while businesses and community members donate monetary donations to the program. Anyone wanting to make a donation can do so to P.O. Box 11, Barnesville, OH 43713.
The board of directors are Linda Stanley, Joyce Spigarelli, Marie McCrate, Blattler and Henderson.
The board members are looking for volunteers and said it would be very helpful to have plenty of volunteers who can prepare the food in the kitchen, pack them in a sack and drivers and passengers who will deliver the lunches.
People wanting to volunteer or receive a free lunch can contact board members Kim Henderson at (740) 310-7867 and Diana Blattler at (740) 238-0250.
Volunteers can help whenever they’d like, whether that’s daily, weekly or throughout the summer. The preparation begins at 9 a.m. with volunteers leaving around noon Monday through Friday.
“We are very appreciative of the donations. The community has stepped up” Blattler said. “We can’t say enough.”
Board of directors left to right: Linda Stanley, Diane Blattler, Kim Henderson, Joyce Spigarelli and Marie McCrate.
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