THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 40, NO. 4 | AUGUST 17, 2018
FEEDING MINDS AND BELLIES
PHOTO BY KIRBY COBB
For the past three years, the staff and children at the St. Marys library have participated in the Summer Food Service Program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and designed to give children access to free, nutritious meals when school is not in session. Above, Mercy McCann enjoys a juice box as part of the program at the library.
Catholic Charities partners with rural libraries to keep young people fed, physically and mentally By Emily Wildhaber Special to The Leaven
S
T. MARYS — The librarians of the Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library here have their summer food program down to a science. “I know my people that want oranges,” said Colette Goldade, processing clerk of the St. Marys library branch. “You get to know who wants chocolate milk,” she added, “who wants white milk, who wants the fruit and who doesn’t want the fruit.” As if to demonstrate her point, a small girl in a blue dress walks up and quietly asks for an orange. Before she has finished speaking, Goldade’s plastic-gloved hands have deftly quartered the fruit and handed it to the child, who rejoins the 30 or so kids eating lunch in the
“
IF WE COULD PROVIDE THEM FOOD AND THEN ALSO GET THEM INTO THE LIBRARY AND GET THEM READING — A PACKAGE DEAL WAS WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR.” next room. For the past three years, the staff and children at the St. Marys library have participated in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and designed to give children access to free, nutritious meals when school is not in session.
Sponsored by Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, St. Marys’ library serves lunch three days a week throughout June and July. Though the meal is geared toward low-income families, there are no income requirements to participate and all are welcome to attend. The summer food program is held in conjunction with the library’s Summer Reading Program. In addition to the daily meal, the librarians read to the children, lead crafts and bring in speakers. Melanie Smith, branch librarian, said the two programs complement each other. “We get new kids who are like, ‘Oh, you bring food here?’” she said. That’s because some kids that already come for the library’s programming are surprised to learn of the free lunches. Meanwhile, others who come originally for the lunches are then being turned onto the programming.
The Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library partners with Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas to provide meals at seven of its library locations. Catholic Charities furnishes the libraries with food and supplies necessary to run the site. The library staff, in turn, serves the meals in their respective communities with the help of local volunteers from Immaculate Conception Church, the St. Marys Knights of Columbus and others interested in lending a hand. It was the lack of resources in these small rural communities that first inspired the library system to participate in the program. “Originally, the other organizations [in the area] weren’t really doing summer food or any kind of food options really, and so there was kind of a gap,” explained Judith Cremer, library director. >> See “RURAL” on page 7