Summer meal program grows with new activities

About 50 people — kids, parents and volunteers — gathered in the Asa Wood School on Tuesday for the Summer Meal program’s kick-off lunch. Volunteers dished up burgers and beans, along with several fruits and salad at a makeshift lunch line in the hallway.

Walking among those who attended the free lunch was a handful of volunteers dressed as Smokey Bear, a clown, a trapper and a few fruits. The costumed volunteers danced in the gym to the high school pep band and took photographs with kids. The gym contained a few stations for activities, including face-painting table and a miniature putting green.

The program is a cooperative effort by the Libby School District, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Americorps No Kid Hungry. The program establishes six locations — Asa Wood, Libby Christian Church, Christ Lutheran Church, Libby Elementary School and McGrade Center Gym — where children and families can get a nutritious meal. Kids under 18 years old are able to eat for free and adults pay a small fee.

Ellen Mills, administrative assistant and nutrition director for Libby School District, said the program aims to help children and families from the area who are in need.

“We have families that are struggling,” Mills said. “There are kids that don’t have the opportunity to eat and so they just don’t get food.”

To put Tuesday’s event together, Mills and Rikki Luebke, of Americorps Montana, teamed up on a grant application to rent out the space, activities and character costumes.

With the $391 grant secured, funds should last through the summer, Luebke said, going primarily toward program activities. While the program’s food portion has been in place for about eight years, the activities are a new addition.

“I think it builds a sense of community. We’re all looking out for each other,” Luebke said. “No kid should have to experience hunger.”

Luebke spent the past year serving food at Troy schools for a similar program. She also worked with students on nutrition education, hoping to establish ideas with the kids that would serve a more healthy diet after school ended for the summer.

Americorps, a Helena-based organization, holds similar programs around Western Montana, such as Great Falls, Billings, Browning and Kalispell, as well as Libby and Troy.

Luebke and Mills also worked together to recruit volunteers for the Summer Meal program for the summer. Mills drew volunteers from her friends, family and coworkers. Luebke reached out to businesses and churches in the area to find a few extra pairs of hands.

“We’re trying to build a volunteer base,” Luebke said. “We’re trying to recruit people that have the time to invest and are willing to build the program over time.”

Luebke said the activities added to the Summer Meal program at Asa Wood will provide things like face painting and tie-dye activities throughout the summer. On Wednesday, volunteers helped kids make film canister rockets. Luebke also reached out to Linda Alkire, director of the Libby Area Community Garden, who welcomed a chance to teach kids how to plant seeds, cultivate some vegetables, harvest those vegetables and even make a salad from the produce.

On Tuesdasy, Alkire brought her granddaughter to the kick-off event at Asa Wood to take part in the lunch and activities. She said she’s looking forward to assisting the program by teaching kids about gardening and nutrition.

“These children will stay in Libby long after this program is gone,” Alkire said. “This is something that is sustainable. I think that’s the key to growing communities really well.”

Despite the kick-off event landing on Tuesday, the actual first day of the Summer Meals program was on Monday, but only a handful of people turned out, Mills, the school administrative assistant, said. On Tuesday, about 50 people traveled through her makeshift lunch line in the Asa Wood hallway. Some faces Mills knew; others she didn’t.

Mills said her goal for the program is to see it continue to grow and reach more families before the last lunch on July 28.

“There were some faces today I’ve never seen before,” she said. “That’s awesome, that shows there’s some awareness to what we’re doing. I’m excited about that.”

For more information on summer meal programs in the area, call Libby Schools at 293-8811.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.