5 minute read
Miami’s Meal Program Continues
from June 2020
Miami’s Meal Program For Youth and Seniors Continues Through Summer
By Carol Broeder
he Town of Miami and Destiny School have teamed up to serve “grab and go” lunches to youth under the age of 18. The program began on March 18 with 35 lunches and, as of last week, the town now serves 145 lunches per day, according to Miami Community Services Coordinator Christine Duarte.
The meals are delivered each weekday morning at 10:45 a.m. to Miami Memorial Park, where they are put together and bagged. Each sack includes lunch plus breakfast for the next morning. Volunteer Alexia Castaneda is part of a team that helps prepare the “grab and go lunches” five days a week for
Families drive up to the curb on distribution to community youth under age 18. Photo by Carol Broeder Sullivan Street in a lane marked by orange cones, picking up the children’s meals between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Lunch Program is a good program – I think the federal government does a great Senior meals
All told, the Town of Miami hands out job with it. The only cost to our school is Area seniors in both Gila and Pinal about 725 grab and go lunches per week to manpower, which is negligible.” Counties will also continue to receive youth within the community. He explains that the school uses its meals until the Miami Senior Center is
While it started early this year due to own personnel and vehicles to deliver able to re-open. COVID-19, the summer lunch program is the meals to the distribution points “The Town of Miami has also assured nothing new to Destiny School. Just ask in Miami, San Carlos and the Globe that many seniors--not only within its director, David McLendon, who Public Library. the local community, but also Pinal said the school holds it every year in “We are very happy to do it,” McLendon County--have not been left hungry,” said cooperation with the Globe Public said. Duarte, explaining that the center serves Library and previously with the Cobre As a K-8 school, Destiny has a student about 55 senior citizens from Escudilla Valley Youth Club. population of about 335 students, more Drive throughout the town, as well as 48
Duarte learned about Destiny’s than 90 percent of whom are eligible for seniors at Top of the World in neighboring program after becoming Miami’s new free and reduced meals, McLendon said. Pinal County. community services coordinator last With funding from the federal Calling seniors “extremely important” year. Miami Senior Center employee program, Destiny is currently feeding to the town, Duarte said the center will Susan Hurtado mentioned that the town nearly triple the number of children who remain closed until it is deemed safe and used to distribute lunches to youth in the normally attend its school, currently that no seniors are at risk gathering there. community. The program later ended for serving 980 lunches per day. “We are looking forward to having the reasons unknown, she said. “How grateful we are to the Town of seniors back,” she said.
Prior to the onset of COVID-19, Miami, Globe Public Library and the San Taking pride in the center, town Duarte reached out to Destiny’s Cindy Carlos Apache Tribe for allowing us to do employees have been cleaning, painting Cothrun, who later confirmed that Miami this,” said McLendon, adding that, while and reorganizing while it is currently would be able to bring back its summer the reservation is closed due to COVID-19, closed. They began a collection of painted lunch program. Destiny is allowed to deliver meals to its rocks in front of the center and members
Weeks later, Cothrun contacted distribution point. of the surrounding community are Duarte again, asking if the town would Destiny is always looking for “any other welcome to add to it, Duarte said. be interested in teaming up with youth organizations” in the community As of last week, the center provides Destiny to start the lunches early due to that need help with a summer lunch about 721 meals per week to senior school closures in the wake of COVID-19. program, he said. citizens.
And the rest, as they say, is history. For more information, call Destiny Duarte thanked town employees who
McLendon said, “The National School School at 928-425-0925. “work long hours to assure the seniors within the community are fed.” Since making distribution of both youth and senior meals a priority during COVID-19, the town had to reassign some employees “to assure these programs are run efficiently, as many within the community depend on these food programs,” she said. The team includes staff with Miami Transit and the Miami Memorial Library, Duarte said. Chief Operating Officer Ana Medina, with the Apache Junction-based Pinal-Gila Council for Senior Citizens Area on Aging, arranged for the Army National Guard to deliver toilet paper, Miami Community Services Coordinator Christine Duarte (foreground), volunteers and town staff assemble and bag “grab and go” lunches at Miami Memorial Park five days a week for distribution to community youth under chlorine bleach and a five-day snack shelf to all senior centers throughout the age 18. Photo by Carol Broeder two counties.
The items were later delivered to all seniors participating in the COVID-19 meals on wheels program, Duarte said.
She offered thanks to all who make the program possible, including volunteers who help assemble and distribute the sack lunches, as well as local businesses and individuals who have contributed plastic bags and other supplies.
“All these people have made our programs a huge success,” Duarte said last week. “I am proud to say the little Town of Miami serves about 1,466 meals per week (total).”
“It’s a great feeling knowing the children and seniors are fed Monday through Friday by these programs,” she said. “Seeing the smiles on the faces of many as meals are being distributed and the excitement on the children’s faces as they look into their bags has been priceless.”
Any youth or seniors that need to be added to the program may call the Miami Senior Center at 928-473-4190 or the Miami Police Department at 928-473-2467.
“We would be happy to add members of the community to either program,” Duarte said. u
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