Community Education Health & Wellness

Summer Lunch Program keeps stomachs full while school’s out

Gig Harbor children can receive free lunches through Altrusa Gig Harbor’s Summer Lunch Project on Tuesdays and Thursdays through Aug. 27.

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The organization provides a bag lunch for children between noon and 1 p.m. on those days in three locations — an apartment complex, a mobile home park and at the Gig Harbor Library.

Altrusa assumed the responsibility of providing free summer lunches for children on the Gig Harbor peninsula three years ago. Food 4 All continues to focus on children on the Key Peninsula.

Summer lunch outreach

Altrusa’s Summer Lunch Project provides sack lunches — including a sandwich filled with proteins, vegetables, fruit and a fun packaged snack.

“I think (many) people in Gig Harbor are pretty comfortable, and kind of don’t believe there’s anyone hungry here,” Altrusa Gig Harbor board member and past president Nancy Hohenstein said. “So if they don’t have kids themselves who are hungry, we’d love for them to encourage someone else so kids can get fed.”

With help from property managers, Altrusa alerted residents of apartment complexes and mobile home parks about the program. That helped the club estimate how many lunches it needed to prepare each day. 

From left, Jan Drahota, Sharon Baker, Cindy Vincent and Pam Martin of Altrusa Gig Harbor prepare meals for the club’s Summer Lunch Project at Agnus Dei Lutheran Church. Altrusa volunteers prepare, pack, and distribute the lunches to children in Gig Harbor. Photo courtesy of Nancy Hohenstein

Approximately 80 children currently receive the free lunches, but the goal is to reach all kids who need them, Hohenstein said. 

“The struggle is that kids who are in need are scattered all over Gig Harbor,” she said. “There’s approximately 2,000 kids in this (school) district who qualify for free and reduced lunch, and we’re getting nowhere near that. Now that we have the capacity to serve at the library, we are hoping to hit some of the apartments within walking distance. If they need the lunches, then they probably have trouble paying for gas, too (in order to travel to the distribution site).” 

Literacy and nutrition

Altrusa funds the Summer Lunch Project through donations and money raised from its Empty Bowls fundraiser in March each year, Hohenstein said.

“All money raised (from Empty Bowls) has to go to alleviate hunger, and we use it for our lunch project, and we also grant money out to four or five other organizations.”

Altrusa is an international organization. Each chapter focuses on literacy and promoting the needs of its local community. 

Providing free lunches to children during the summer months, when they don’t have access to school lunches, supports Altrusa Gig Harbor’s literacy efforts.

“Kids can’t learn if they’re hungry. So our food programs are directed to make sure kids are prepared to learn to read, and enjoy reading,” Hohenstein said.

Though the food project primarily benefits children, Hohenstein said Altrusa would not turn away anyone who is hungry.

Donations can be made through the program’s Amazon Wishlist. Visit Altrusa’s website for more information.