The Summer Lunch Program ran from June 8 to July 31, 2009, here at the Church of Peace. Actually, we served some breakfasts and some snacks along with the lunches. While meals were served here at the church building to the children enrolled in the Summer Fun Camp, and walk-in children from the Longview neighborhood, the main effort was to cater the programs for children put on by Rock Island Parks and Recreation at several schools.
When it was all said and done we served about 13,000 free meals! Exactly, the count is 12997. That includes 9612 lunches. So our average lunches per day were 240; average meals 325. This is in fact somewhat fewer lunches than 2008. This is because the program that Parks and Recreation usually has at Ridgewood School had to be cancelled because of renovation to the school facility this summer. While we did serve lunch to the kids from that area in Haymaker Park there were significantly fewer kids eating because of the renovation program.
What really makes the program work for the church is the participation of all the volunteers. We have a professional cook, and two additional certified food preparation folks, and a cooks's helper and the administrative staff. But without the volunteers the program could not survive.
The Summer Lunch Program also helps us participate in the mission of God in the world. There is the narrative of Jesus feeding the 5000. (I guess his followers kept count too.) And also the passage in Matthew 25 where the disposition of those before the Great Judgement of God hinged in part on whether one had fed the hungry. We are privileged by being part of program that feeds hungry children here in Rock Island.
When it was all said and done we served about 13,000 free meals! Exactly, the count is 12997. That includes 9612 lunches. So our average lunches per day were 240; average meals 325. This is in fact somewhat fewer lunches than 2008. This is because the program that Parks and Recreation usually has at Ridgewood School had to be cancelled because of renovation to the school facility this summer. While we did serve lunch to the kids from that area in Haymaker Park there were significantly fewer kids eating because of the renovation program.
What really makes the program work for the church is the participation of all the volunteers. We have a professional cook, and two additional certified food preparation folks, and a cooks's helper and the administrative staff. But without the volunteers the program could not survive.
The Summer Lunch Program also helps us participate in the mission of God in the world. There is the narrative of Jesus feeding the 5000. (I guess his followers kept count too.) And also the passage in Matthew 25 where the disposition of those before the Great Judgement of God hinged in part on whether one had fed the hungry. We are privileged by being part of program that feeds hungry children here in Rock Island.
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