LEBANON — When school lets out for the summer, children get to enjoy the freedom of days without class. But for some low-income kids, summer vacation also can be a time of food insecurity.
To help combat that, the Lebanon Lunch Friends summer program is looking for volunteers to help make healthy lunches for children in need.
“Lebanon Lunch Friends is important to the community because it provides free lunches to local children five days a week for nine weeks over the summer, when eligible children no longer have access to free and reduced-price meals at school,” Liz Swanton, community relations and volunteer specialist at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, which organizes the Lunch Friends program, said in an email.
The program, which is in its third year, provides more than 6,700 lunches to area students over summer vacation, from June 17-Aug. 16. On average, about 140 lunches are served each day.
Volunteers make the lunches daily from 9-11 a.m. at White River School, 102 Pine St., in White River Junction. There, volunteers make sandwiches prepare vegetables, and assemble the lunches into bags.
During the nine-week period, volunteers are asked to commit to at least one day a week. The program is able to work around vacations and other commitments.
To feed so many children, the Lebanon Lunch Friends program needs about 30 volunteers, Swanton said.
Access to healthy, nutritious food was one of the 10 most pressing concerns listed in the Community Health Needs Assessment conducted by Upper Valley health care organizations. By helping to make lunches, volunteers are contributing to the overall wellness of Upper Valley children, Swanton said.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Swanton at 603-442-5953 or swantone@apdmh.org.