By Isabella Zarate
As school comes to an end and summer begins a lot of things change for families and their kids.
Some parents are tasked with finding babysitters or sending their kids to daycare, while others stay home and spend more hours with their children. Regardless of the situation, all families are faced with providing lunch – something most did not worry about during the school year.
As school is in session most of the children are guaranteed a fulfilling lunch. But once school is out, the lunches that were once there no longer are.
Recognizing the need for children to have a good lunch, Jane Fisc had the idea of starting a summer lunch program that would be put on by a number of local churches. After the first year Fisc left the program and Linda Meachum took over.
For eleven years now Meachum has been running and managing the summer lunch program.
Every week a different church comes together with volunteers and donations to provide free lunches to the public. This year there are ten different churches scheduled to provide.
The lunches are provided Monday-Friday at the pool house of Candlewood starting from 11:30 a.m. and running till 12:15 p.m.
The lunches are available to everyone, Meachum explains. “Anyone who wants to come eat, kids, adults, seniors – it’s really open to anyone.”
Lunches often vary from a variety of things such as casseroles, to sandwiches, to pizza, ultimately each church and its volunteers get to decide.
Not only do the churches provide a free lunch, but guests also get the chance to sit in a nice cool air conditioned building – something that many are grateful for amidst the scorching summer sun.
If you are interested in helping out whether through donations or volunteering you can reach out to one of the following local churches:
The Vineyard
Mahomet Christian
Grace Church
First Baptist
Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints
Community Free
Mahomet Lutheran
New Beginnings
Our Lady of the Lake
Mahomet United Methodist
Otherwise, feel free to stop by the pool house, grab a free lunch and meet some people from the community.
“People have just been so responsive to this, it’s really been good,” Meachum shares. “[People] just want to come and have something to eat.”
