Kids Won’t Go Hungry over Summer Break

Campus Church at GAC provides breakfast and lunch through Project Kids Eat.

Words by Arlinda Smith Broady

Photos by George Hunter

Back in the day, the end of school meant kids chanting the old rhyme, “No more pencil, no more books! No more teachers’ dirty looks!” But with the growing population of homeless and hungry students, many will be adding, “No more breakfast or lunch” to that mantra.

To combat that problem, Campus Church at Greater Atlanta Christian (GAC) began a ministry called Project Kids Eat more than two decades ago to feed schoolchildren during the summer months.

To go order starts it all

Carolyn Maddox, director of food services for

the school, recalled how the program began.

“We have a Thanksgiving Day dinner here every year, and we have very large crowds, usually anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 people,” she said. “It was probably 2001 or 2002 when a social worker for Gwinnett named Carol McMillan asked if we could made 116 lunches to go.”

Maddox didn’t mind fulfilling the request, but she was curious about where the food was going. It turned out that the lunches would be delivered to members of the area’s homeless population.

“I had no idea there were that many homeless people in Gwinnett County,” said Maddox. She asked the social worker to come back to talk with her about doing more.

When McMillan was asked about the major needs she faced, “…she said, ‘We need food for these children during the holidays, and especially during the summer,’ she said,” added Maddox. “Once school’s out, they get nothing.”

Maddox and her staff started out making sandwiches. “I learned fast that wasn’t going to work. So, I started pursuing people who would give us a good deal on food and started collecting money,” said Maddox. “My staff gave money at that time, and we did it that way until Julie took over.”

Maddox is referring to the Reverend Julie Williams, a community pastor at Campus Church. “She’s a super woman, and it’s so organized,” Maddox added.

Although Gwinnett County has different sites where kids can get breakfast and lunch during the summer months, they’re spread throughout the area. And not everyone has access to those locations.

“We found the thing is they lack is transportation, and even some of our [pick-up spots, like the hotel by] Best Friend Park, would require kids to cross Jimmy Carter Boulevard,” said Williams. Many homeless families in the Norcross area are temporarily housed in extended-stay hotels, so Project Kids Eat delivers the kids’ lunches to those hotels.

Community support rolls in

“We always have enough; we’re primarily funded through the church,” Williams said. Certain days at Campus Church are earmarked as “Giving Sundays” when an offering is set aside for the program. Businesses in the community help out as well.

Sage Dining Services, now the dining company for GAC, provides hot meals three days a week. On Mondays, Bambinelli’s Pizza and Pasta charges just $5 for a meal. And on Fridays, the local Little Caesars Pizza gives the church a discounted rate.

This ensures that kids who don’t have as much as many of us are eating the same things their peers eat. In addition, they get fresh fruit, apple juice, milk along with cereal and a granola bar. Those additional items are meant to supplement the hot meal.

While it would be nice to see subsidies from large food suppliers or manufacturers, Campus Church doesn’t have the manpower to pursue additional funding outside donations. “We have a good stream of income coming in, so we order all our items through Sage,” said Williams, adding that the organization is open to considering help of any kind.

Since Project Kids Eat doesn’t require kids to eat the meals in the presence of the providers, it isn’t eligible for COVID relief funds or any federal grants.

Challenges and dreams

In the early days, the program had contacts at

Waffle House and Coca-Cola that provided donations. As time went by, those connections dried up.

As consumers know, food prices are rising steadily. “All of our expenses have gone up,” said Williams. “Our cereal has gone up 12 cents per serving. Last year we did 5,471 meals for the summer, so when you multiply that, it starts adding up.”

One goal is to eventually engage other churches and non-profits in replicating the efforts of Campus Church. Project Kids Eat only focuses on nearby schools in the Norcross cluster, although the need in Gwinnett, the metro area and the entire country stretches well beyond its capabilities.

“Our dream for this is to train other churches or other organizations to adopt hotels because we are limited. We have four hotels right here that we go to, and two apartment complexes, but you can drive through Gwinnett County and there and 90s, food pantries weren’t like this. They were very small rooms.”

Through those charitable programs, Halpin’s mother was able to feed her children through lean times.

“God has been very gracious to my husband and me. …We want [our children] to see what it looks like to live like Christ, but more importantly, that the importance of serving others is foremost above everything else. So that’s why we do it,” she added.

Duane Jackson is another long-time volunteer. During the year, he drives a school bus for the county and sees the need almost every day when he drops off kids at extended stay hotels.

“I’m a member of Friendship Baptist Church in Duluth, and the director at the time came over … because [our church was] thinking about doing a similar program,” he said. “It never got off the ground.” are many more extended stay hotels,” said Williams.

Volunteers share stories

The message is catching on. Kate Halpin, a member of Perimeter Church, volunteered with her children recently. “I’m on the city impact team with Johns Creek at the church and …I’ve had a longstanding relationship with community outreach at our church,” she said.

Halpin has been involved with Project Kids Eat for a few summers. Her family participates in the Christmas and Thanksgiving programs as well. She said that although her situation in life in now different, she grew up in poverty.

“My mom was a single mom,” said Halpin. “After my dad left, we got meals through a food pantry. The way our church was set up back in the 80s

Jackson came to see how Campus Church ran its operation and started volunteering. “And then I got hooked,” he said. “That was about 11 or 12 years ago.” ##

Project Kids Eat

Through the end of July, Campus Church needs volunteers to pack and deliver lunches to kids living in the extended-stay hotels in the Norcross community.

Scan to sign up to volunteer For additional info, email julie@campuschurch.org.