7/5/2012 11:31:00 AM YMCA joins summer youth food program
YMCAjoins summer youth food program initiative
Vicki Middleton
At 11:45 a.m., Monday through Friday, children form a line inside the Midwest City YMCA basketball gym.
They wait patiently, some more quiet than others, to be handed their brown paper sack lunches.
On Monday, bags were filled with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, fruit and string cheese.
Then there was the choice of beverages to drink: either milk or chocolate milk.
Laura Schwartz, the summer feeding worker at the YMCA, said the chocolate milk is the first to go. It can be difficult to get children to drink the "white" stuff, so she has had to get crafty and only put out a certain number of chocolate milk cartons, she said.
OK, now her secret is out, but shhhh... don't tell the boys and girls.
First time
This year marks the first time the family fitness center has joined schools, churches and other YMCA facilities in the Oklahoma City metro to give children something to eat in the summer months. The program is part of a nation-wide effort that provides five million healthy meals and snacks to more than 100,000 children annually.
Often, when schools let out for the summer, children who normally qualify for free or reduced lunches, no longer have this meal source. There are an estimated 21 million children nationwide impacted by that situation, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
All of this is why the Summer Feeding Program was started to provide free nutritious food to children at selected sites, including breakfast, lunch or both to children ages 1 to 18 beginning in early June through the end of July.
Grant given
YMCA's participation in the program is made possible through a partnership with the Walmart Foundation, which included a $5 million grant from the retail giant.
The Midwest City YMCA, located at 2817 Woodcrest Drive, is in its first year in the program, Executive Director Sandy Smith said.
When they signed up, Smith said the YMCA received a grant that helped with the expenses associated with the program, like hiring Schwartz as the employee to oversee the food distribution. The center also purchased a refrigerator to hold all of the food.
Currently, the YMCA hands out almost 80 sacked lunches each day, Schwartz said, but most of those children are part of the facility's summer day camp with lunch slated for 11:45 a.m.
Children from the community are then invited to eat lunch anytime between from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The program also includes an afternoon snack, which is served from 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
At this time, the YMCA has seen low participation from walk-in diners, but would love to see more new faces, Smith said.
The YMCA is not the only site in the area to offer the Summer Feeding Program.
Divine Wisdom Worship Center, 8320 NE 10th Street, and Neighborhoods in Action at 1124 N. Douglas, which was formerly Midwest City's No. 4 fire station, are two other places in Midwest City feeding children.
For more information, call the Midwest City YMCA at 290-5050 or visit the Summer Feeding Program's website at http://www.regionalfoodbank.org/Programs/Childhood-Hunger/Summer-Feeding.
