Pilot Program Targets Youth Hunger

VILLAS – There’s a free lunch waiting for anyone under 18 at the Cape May County Library – Lower Cape branch on Thursdays and Fridays. They just have to show up.
Under a pilot program that started June 28, the library has joined forces with the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and the federal and state Departments of Agriculture to reach children who may not be getting all the meals they should.
According to Kara Brehm, community outreach librarian, Lower Township has about 1,700 school-age children eligible for reduced or free lunches in the schools.
“It’s the largest group in the county,” she said. “They may not have access to meals during the summer when school is out, so we decided to partner with the FoodBank and state and federal agencies to try and meet a need in the community,” she said.
The free lunches are available Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. until Aug. 31.
Meals are available on a first-come, first-served basis. No registration is necessary, and Brehm said the library, 2600 Bayshore Road, is one of two “open” sites she knows of where children can get lunch without pre-registration.
So far, there’s been “one day we were disappointed with the turnout,” admitted Brehm, but “most days we have 15 to 18 kids each time. We can handle up to 30 meals each day, and have overflow snacks available if we had more.
“The meals are prepared by a vendor who delivers them to us just before we start,” she added. “The meals follow all the nutrition guidelines and must be consumed on the property for safety reasons,” Brehm added.
Four different boxed meals rotate on a bi-weekly basis. A “share table” is also available so if someone doesn’t like an item, they can put it on the share table to possibly swap out with another item there.
Brehm joked that since “everyone loves chocolate milk,” that’s not an item likely to be found on the share table.
“Kids are pretty vocal about their likes and dislikes,” she added.
Ghada Elsonbaty, of North Cape May, brought her three children to the library July 13 and was surprised to learn about the free lunches. Her sons, Youssef, 12, and Noureldin, 9, were enjoying Mexican chicken, tortilla chips, salsa, apple slices and chocolate milk.
“It’s our first time coming for lunch,” Elsonbaty said. “It’s nice that they offer this. We’ll come again because they enjoyed it.”
Brehm said she’d like to see more children take advantage of the program, but realizes transportation can be a struggle for some. “We’re trying to work with the (county) Fare-Free Transportation bus which can be available if a parent or child needs transportation.”
Besides the lunch, the library staff which supports the programs has been showing movies during the lunchtime and plans to add some craft activity over the summer.
“We were here looking at books when one of the staff members came over and told us about the lunch,” said Nicole Lindsay, Erma, who was at the library with her 2-year-old daughter, Hope. “I’m going to tell some of my friends about this because it’s a nice thing that they are doing. Some of my friends have older children, and I think they’d enjoy this.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.