YMCA Partners With St. Susan To Provide Summer Lunches

A collaborative effort between St. Susan Center and the Jamestown YMCA has fed more than 8,500 children in the area over four and a half weeks.

The YMCA summer lunch program is in full swing and is helping kids across the city have a well-balanced, nutritious lunch during the week over the summer. Last year, Jeff Smith, St. Susan Center executive director, said the program passed out 8,531 lunches over the entire summer.

By the end of the summer, he estimates they will have served over 14,000 meals. The YMCA purchases the meals from St. Susan Center each day and is reimbursed by the Summer Food Service Program by the USDA.

"We've definitely seen an increase," Smith said.

Lunch sites include the Eastside YMCA, Jamestown YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club Camp, the Boys and Girls Club on Allen Street, C.C. Ring Elementary School, Fletcher Elementary School, Love Elementary School, CODE, Lillian Dixon Park and Lincoln Elementary School.

Smith said the lunches include everything necessary for a nutritious lunch.

"We try to give them a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits," he said. "Last week, we did smoothies."

St. Susan Center works much like a caterer in the arrangement, Smith said. The center prepares the meals ahead of time, and the YMCA picks them up and drops them off at the different sites. The foods are prepared and wrapped up and then packaged in brown paper bags. Afterward, they are placed in coolers in a large refrigerator until pick-up the next morning.

The workload increased during the summer for the program, Smith said, but the staff has done well handling it.

"It's a challenge," he said. "We have some new folks on staff this summer, and they've done a good job."

See tomorrow’s edition of The Post-Journal for complete coverage.