ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Many area children rely on school lunches to receive the adequate nutrition they need to make it through the day.
Muskingum County Family YMCA Executive Director and Zanesville Noon Rotary Board Member Tyler McDade explained how both of the organizations he is involved with are helping to fill needs created by gaps in the system.
“Yeah, so this is a partnership between Zanesville City Schools, the Noon Rotary Club and the YMCA,” McDade said. “We are packing 100 food bags for kids in need in the city of Zanesville, or in Zanesville City Schools. The school district has identified the kids and the Y actually runs a program throughout the year, that we fill bookbags for these same kids.”
Zanesville schools offer a free lunch program for kids during their summer break. However, there is a lapse in service during the week of the Fourth of July, which creates the opportunity for area service organizations to pitch in and fill a worthy cause.
“It’s a very big impact,” McDade said. “It helps, like I said, a hundred kids. But then during the school year, when we run the program, we’re serving over 300 kids. So, you know, we want these kids to be successful in their everyday life and their future and perform well in the classroom and in society. And having an empty stomach is not helping with any of those things. So, that’s our main goal, when we’re providing this food.”
Volunteers from the Zanesville Noon Rotary club spent the morning packing the bags that will be handed out next week with a variety of basic nutritional items that are served in the school’s cafeterias. Zanesville City Schools aim to hand out many of the bags on their premises but will also deliver to some of the families, who don’t have the means to pick them up.
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