A ham and cheese sandwich, carrot sticks, apple juice and chocolate milk—not as popular as the favorite “pizza sticks” lunch according to Tyler Rivera and Louisa Johnson, the two AmeriCorps members working in Federal Way for the One Million Meals Campaign—but for children and teens who might otherwise go without during the summer months, there are few complaints about the food.
Headed by the United Way of King County, this summer meals program is a continuation of the free and reduced lunch programs that provides nutritional meals to the children of low-income families during the school year. Without programs like this, the extra grocery costs are a significant burden on the families when school is out.
Here in Federal Way, the United Way of King County works with the Federal Way School District and community organizations such as Children’s Alliance, Food Lifeline, NW Harvest, and Communities In Schools of Federal Way to get food to local kids. Communities in Schools provides transportation for food and AmeriCorps members who travel to several locations to provide both free lunch and snacks for kids and teens under the age of 18.
No need for questions or paperwork here; children can just show up and receive a free lunch along with warm conversation from Tyler and Louisa. The AmeriCorps workers noted that their roles are important but also temporary. The main task, besides serving meals, is to do the outreach in the local community because there’s a need for building up the infrastructure of the program as well as making sure people know that this resource exists.
For the families who do know this resource is available, the program has become an essential and enjoyable part of their everyday routines. Eight-year-old Liliana Cruz holds up her prize card, “The bug stickers are my favorite,” she smiled as she placed another sticker on her card. Ten stickers (ten days of attendance) yields to a special prize. Liliana has come consistently every day, twenty-eight days this summer.
For Liliana and her fellow lunch-goers, it’s not only lunch that’s the draw, but also engaging activities including, “story time,” arts and crafts, and assorted balls to play with. At Steel Lake Park, where Tyler and Louisa distributed lunches just after noon, the Acree family said that a handful of the kids usually start playing a game of soccer when they finish up their lunches. Here especially, this meal time proves not only to be fulfilling a need for food, but is also creating a small community where families, extended family and friends come together to share a meal in the sunny park. Sylvia, Liliana’s great grandmother, said that Liliana comes for both the snack and the social aspect of meal time.
The program, which started in late June, will have its last day on August 23rd, right before school starts again. Tyler and Louis estimate that in Federal Way alone they will serve over 6,000 meals to kids and teens in need this summer, thanks to the successful collaboration of community organizations.
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