Programs
“Just a Little Extra” WFP & Prepared Meals Program
There are many children in our community that have food insecurity issues. The Children’s Lunchbox (TCL) identifies the need by working with safe community environment site partners to make sure the majority of the children are within poverty guidelines or are considered “at-risk”.
At locations such as Camp Fire’s community centers the “after school snacks” are frequently the children’s last meal until breakfast. At AVAIL High School the lunch many of them receive from TCL is their one consistent meal each day during the week. In our early morning snack program we found that a good portion of the children were waiting an hour and a half to three hours to eat their first meal.
“JUST A LITTLE EXTRA” WEEKEND FOOD PROGRAM
Another school has been added! The Children’s Lunchbox has been providing four healthy and easy to eat or prepare meals for all Mountain View Elementary students as well as Ptarmigan Elementary students and this year we have added Klatt Elementary to our list of deliveries! The funding for this program is due to the generosity of corporations, organizations and MANY private donations!
Our system of getting food directly into the hands of young elementary students is unique and successful. There are three types of children we have identified that receive the weekly food bag.
· First, and most at risk, are the children that are from families of addiction (alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc.) and other such activities that have these kids raising themselves – so to speak. It is for this group that we most cater our food choices. Such as; is the food easy to eat, store and/or prepare?
· Second, children from loving homes but that are in poverty. These kids tend to take the food home to share with their family. It is from these families that the request for items like rice and pasta came.
· Third, the less than 13% that aren’t in poverty tend to be the families that are helping to feed the neighborhood kids that are in group one. These families can support themselves; however, with this program they are able to utilize the extra food to feed the neighborhood kids that come over to play, eat and have a safe place to hang out.
The Bartlett High School and ACE/Act Life Skills class are assisting TCL again this year by bagging the prepackaged food for the elementary students and providing a great staging area. We are excited to be having the ACE/Act studenst in to our kitchen for some hands on food preparation as well!
School business partnerships, community volunteers and donors make feeding these kids a reality. When we feed a hungry child nutritious meals we are giving them a chance to participate in their education, be healthy and live more productively.
PREPARED MEALS PROGRAM
In the Prepared Meals Program there are two components: Summer and School year. The summer program is substantially funded through the USDA Summer Food Service Program while the school year program is funded through a mix of federal and state funding, private grants, corporate giving and many individual donations.
In the School Year program hungry kids are provided nutritious meals through 1) after school programs such as CampFire USA, Boys & Girls Clubs 2) alternative high schools with a large poverty population that need delivery service such as Crossroads & AVAIL, Parachutes and 3) an early morning snack program at Mountain View Boys & Girls Club. We occasionally prepare meals for parenting classes.
PROGRAM GROWTH
The Children’s Lunchbox has the capacity to increase the number of meals being made and delivered during the school year. In addition, our skilled staff is trained to work with volunteers so we may increase the number of kids we feed while keeping the costs down ~ without jeopardizing the quality.
New programs are added or expanded as funding becomes available. Normally, there will be a “pilot” program to work through logistics, increase awareness of the program and receive additional funding through grants and donations.
