Children Services works to provide free lunches this week for kids
June 9, 2010
Richland County Children Services and three other agencies are combining efforts with Panera Bread and Jones Chips to provide 250 free lunches per day to area children today, Thursday and Friday at the Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center and Liberty Park in Mansfield.
The local summer food service program for Richland County children does not begin until Monday. When it begins, free breakfast and lunches will be provided through the Erie-Huron Counties Community Action Commission at various locations.
Since 75 percent of the children attending Mansfield City Schools qualify for free and reduced-price breakfast and lunches, the potential exists for hundreds of local children in need to go hungry. The city school district’s last day for the 2009-2010 school year was Monday.
“We estimate there are more than 2,000 children in Mansfield and elsewhere in Richland County who rely upon these free meals each day,” said Randy Parker, executive director of Richland County Children Services.
“Since the summer-long program does not begin until Monday, we felt the need to do what we could to help. Children should not have to go hungry,” he said.
RCCS, in conjunction with the Richland County Juvenile Court, Richland County United Way and the City of Mansfield’s Department of Regional Community Advancement, will provide the meals from noon to 1 p.m. each day in the gymnasium at Ocie Hill and also at the Liberty Park pavilion.
Panera Bread, 2070 Walker Lake Road, is donating 750 sandwiches, apples and cookies. Jones Chips, 823 Bowman St., is donating 750 bags of chips.
Nearly two dozen Children Services employees are donating their lunch hours to distribute the meals.
“These are not elaborate meals. Each child will get a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich, chips, a cookie and a drink,” Parker said. “But it means at least one nutritious meal a day for 250 children until the official summer program begins.
“We wish we could provide more. We will divide the 250 meals between the two sites. When those are gone each day, they are gone. So we urge parents not to wait until the last minute to come to get their children a lunch.”
"We very much appreciate the generous donations from Panera Bread and Jones Chips. These kind of community minded sponsors make these kinds of efforts possible," Parker said.
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