As Bainbridge Island’s school children settle back into classes, an important summer youth food program has ended. For many children, summer months are a time of food insecurity. When the school year ends in June, the daily food support many children rely on disappears with it. Closing that gap is the summer mission of the Youth Food Committee, a group of volunteers within the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island.
The committee delivered the season’s final food order to Helpline House last week, along with the last round of home deliveries.
This summer, 85 island children received bags of food through the Kids Pantry at Helpline House. That number reflects only Bainbridge Island families; committee organizers say the need would double if the program expanded to include Poulsbo.
Seven volunteers ran the program under co-chairs Thea Peterson and Paul Tice.
“The effort relies on a network of partners,” Peterson said. Safeway supplies discounted food for the program. Helpline House volunteers help move the purchased food from the store into distribution. The Bainbridge Island School District provides counts of children who need home deliveries, and Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island members handle many of those deliveries directly to families who can’t get to Helpline House to pick up food themselves, and also provided $8500 to help fund the summer program.
The Helpline House Kids’ Pantry program supports island children through winter, mid-winter, spring and summer breaks, when access to regular meals can be disrupted. Each child receives a bag of kid-friendly breakfasts, lunches and snacks on top of their household’s weekly food bank shopping, helping families manage food needs during times of unexpected financial strain.
This summer, Helpline House distributed 85 Kids’ Pantry bags a week for 11 weeks, for a total of 935 bags, said Lianne Ristow, Helpline House food bank manager. Rotary delivered 88 of those bags directly to families, at a rate of eight per week. Ristow said the program has been running for at least 10 years, though she could not confirm exactly how long.
“Rotary’s involvement has reshaped what the Kids’ Pantry program can offer,” Ristow said. “Because Rotary handles home delivery, children who would otherwise be unable to get a bag are able to receive one, and Rotary’s outreach has raised awareness and expanded demand for the program.”
Each bag is built around a breakfast and lunch menu that typically includes instant oatmeal, raisins, shelf-stable milk, canned peaches, tortillas, shredded cheese, canned corn, canned pinto beans, five fresh fruits and vegetables, 10 small snacks, cookies and macaroni and cheese. Rotary purchases at least four of those items each week, Ristow said, including staples like the oatmeal, milk, tortillas and cheese, along with fresh bread and cheese that Helpline House could not otherwise provide.
“Without Rotary’s contribution, the bags would contain primarily dry goods,” Ristow said. “Rotary has greatly improved our Kids’ Pantry Program in many ways, and children in our communities are getting excellent nutritional support because of it.”
Peterson said she’s grateful for the impact the Rotary delivery team makes for families. “You have no idea how excited the kids get when they see the food deliveries,” she said.
With the summer program complete, the committee will begin preparing for the next round of deliveries during Mid-Winter break.
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by Nancy Treder