ELLY GRIMM

  • Leader & Times

For some children, getting food on the weekends during the summer months while their parents are working can be tough, and the Liberal Area Coalition for Families (LACF) wants to help with just that with the Summer Weekends Backpack Food Program.

The program will run every Friday throughout the summer through Crosspoint Church at 204 N. Sherman Ave. and is available for children 1 to 18 years old. Coordinator Sarah Mersdorf-Foreman said the idea has been percolating for a while.

“The funding is through the City of Liberal nonprofit application. As a coalition, we work to try to determine needs within the community,” Mersdorf-Foreman said. “So when it was written last summer, the goal was to assist the food pantry in whatever way. In talking with Susanna [Hernandez], we knew there were a few schools who didn't do the backpack food program, and so we decided to fill that gap of getting kids and families food for the weekend, especially over the summer, since the summer food program through the district does not run on the weekends during the summer.”

Co-coordinator Susanna Hernandez said she is proud to be offering such a program for the community’s youth.

“I'm excited about it. It was originally started because in the schools, there’s a program called the Food for Kids program, and usually it's food for the weekends for kids who could be chronically hungry, and they hand those packets out every Friday,” Hernandez said. “We get this food for them to have something to eat over the weekend. It's supplementary food for the weekend and to help with weekend meals for families. The packets will include fruit cups, applesauce, milk, cereal, Pop-Tarts, some snacks, granola bars, beef jerky,  and tuna packets, among some other items.”

“All the food is shelf stable because we don't know if they have the resources or ability to prepare a full meal, so everything is ready, consumable, and shelf-stable,” Mersdorf-Foreman added.

While the program has only had one outing so far this summer, Mersdorf-Foreman said there has already been a lot of response from the community.

“I don't know if we have to do a lot of encouraging, because as of last Monday, Susanna said she’d received 248 inquiries,” Mersdorf-Foreman said. “I naively thought we'd be about at 50 a week, not even thinking we would meet that, and then when we were looking at all the numbers, we realized there's not really a lot of encouragement needed. It’s great we’ve already gotten such a big response, but we will need to evaluate our budget so we make sure we get through the whole summer.”

“And I'm still getting messages and calls from families asking if they can still sign up, so it makes us feel good about helping people in our community,” Hernandez added.

Anyone interested in signing up for the program can contact Mersdorf-Foreman at (620) 655-2061 or Hernandez at (620-391-1090.

“Food security for kids and families is very close to things I care about,” Mersdorf-Foreman said. “When people call, we don't check if they're on free or reduced lunch, we don't check any of that, because if they're calling a food pantry, they're hungry and are in need of some help. We're not going to verify whether or not their hunger is real.”

“And from my experience working with the school district, I know sometimes this is sometimes the kids look forward to these food like that's out for the weekend,” Hernandez added. “I'm glad we have this program, because again, I know some of those students I work with always look forward for that food from the schools. Sometimes they don't have anything to eat after school, so they look forward to these meals. This gives me kind of a sense of hope they will get something to eat at least on the weekend.”

LACF Board President Kay Burtzloff said the goal of the program is pretty simple.

“Our main goal is to feed children in the community, there's no ulterior motive.” Burtzloff said. “It was a gap we saw, and when I went to the city to apply for the grant for a food pantry, I knew it was the right choice. One of the things I know happens is that kids get fed during the week, but they don't have any food on the weekend. Are these balanced meals? No, but it is food so these children at least have something to eat. And since nothing in the packets has to be extensively cooked or prepared, there’s also that safety factor to consider.”