It might be a relief for some children to get out of school for a while during the summer months. But for other children, school closure deprives them of at least one meal a day.
For the second year, the City of Lakewood is working with Jewish Family Service's Lunchbox Express to ensure students have a lunch every day.
"We partnered with Lakewood last year and are expanding our services to the city this year," said Doug Vega, the Lunchbox Express program coordinator. "We were just at one site last year, and it was a good one, so the city reached out to see if we could service more locations."
The Lunchbox Express will be visiting Morse Park from 11-11:30 a.m., Mountair Park from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and Lasley Park from 12:30-1 p.m., Monday through Friday, now through Aug. 17 (except July 4).
"All children, 18 years old and younger, are invited to come get a free lunch during the summer," said Allison Scheck, marketing and community relations in the city's Administration and Community Relations department. "It's about making sure the kids in our community have a healthy lunch. It's also about activity and community."
The program focuses on areas with a high need and looks at schools' free and reduced lunch population to gauge where services are needed. There's no identification or paperwork required to participate. Children just need to keep an eye out for the Lunchbox Express yellow school bus in each parking lot. Children don't have to live in the neighborhood or go to the local school to take part.
"The program is really beneficial to these children and their families," Vega said. "Oftentimes we don't even hear about how big an impact it had until much later."
In addition to the Lunchbox Express at Lasley Park, Lakewood's recreation division will offer activities and supervised play from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day that lunch is served. Activities are free and will include sports games such as soccer, kickball, volleyball and ultimate Frisbee, as well as outdoor activities such as water, teambuilding and group games.
No registration is necessary, and interested children should meet at the shelter next to the playground.
"As a city, we like to fill gaps where we can," Scheck said. "It's wonderful that we have access to this at no financial burden to the city."
Lunchbox Express is sponsored by the USDA's Summer Food Service Program, a federal program that makes nutritious lunches available during the summer.
In addition to the food, the buses give away books to children, and backpacks towards the end of the year. The program is driven by volunteers, Vega said.
"We try to return to sites from previous years so children know about us and spread the word," he said. "It's tremendous to see how impactful this program is on the community."
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Aboard-the-Lunchbox-Express,215432
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