Marcia Allard, Nancy Holden and Bailey Weyrens, Summer Lunch and Learn organizers
As many of you know, the last two summers we’ve been able to host Summer Lunch and Learn at Klinefelter and Centennial Parks in St. Joseph. We were able to serve lunch four days a week to kids under 18 and their parents. We also offered an activity for the kids. Helping in the planning was College of St. Benedict Community Kitchen, St. Benedict’s Monastery, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Church of St. Joseph, Central Minnesota Catholic Worker and members of the greater community.
It has been a valuable experience and one that has allowed us not only to get to know the people of St. Joseph better, but since the issue of childhood hunger continues to be an issue, it allowed us to bring attention to and make a small dent in the problem locally. Kennedy School currently has 32 percent of its students on free and reduced lunch. While this is one of the lowest percentages in the district, it’s still striking and worthy of concern.
We served 80 different youth from 30 different families. During the course of the summer that meant 371 meals for youth and 171 meals for adults. At the St. Joseph Manufactured Home Park there were also more than 25 kids who received breakfast AND lunch daily. Meals were provided by the Yes! Network of St. Cloud.
According to Bread for the World, an international organization that advocates for ending hunger, one in five children in our nation live at risk of hunger. For every six low-income children who receive a school lunch, only about half also get a school breakfast, and only one also gets a free meal in the summer. There is clearly a gap here — many children aren’t getting all the meals they need.
Besides the organizations list above, we want to thank the following groups and businesses for their help in feeding our youth and parents while also providing a sense of community and a positive environment: YES! Network, Bo Diddley’s, Kay’s Kitchen, Bello Cucina and Anna Marie’s Alliance.
If you would like to get involved in this for next summer or wish to help financially, please contact centralmncw@gmail.com. It’s good to be in a community where care for each other continues to be a part of the fabric of all of us as we live together in a healthy way.