Campers find food plentiful
FAIRVIEW TWP— Chicken nuggets won over the crowd with the elementary school-aged children spending their summer days at the Petroleum Valley Youth Center.
For their parents, the nuggets were even more special because they were free.
Even though nuggets were the clear favorite so far this summer, Chance Reep, 11, of Bruin, said he thought the corn dog with ketchup was pretty tasty as well. He claimed it was better than school food.
That's odd because the food for the Summer Food Service Program is made at Chicora Elementary School and paid for by the federal government.
While students aren't at school during the summer, a number of workers there keep busy with programs for children.
This is the first year the Karns City School District is participating in the program. The district qualified because of the number of students who receive free and reduced-price lunches. Churches administer the program at four locations in the valley.
The Rev. James Higgins of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chicora said summer camps, such as the youth center, spurred the area to be a part of the program. The counselors saw some children who came to camp without a lunch. Some of these children receive free or reduced-price lunches during the school year and the federal program allows that to continue.
Additionally, it gives everyone else a little relief from forgetting their lunches. Anyone age 3 to 18 who lives in the district is eligible for the lunches, which are served on Tuesday and Thursday, regardless of income.
An average of 82 lunches are served at Bruin Park, Chicora Park, Bradys Bend Park and the youth center. Most of those who participate attend a camp at the location, but children can come just for lunch. Federal rules, however, say the food can't leave the area.
Higgins and other organizers want the program to grow and continue.
Jeremiah Mackey, 11, of Chicora said his parents enrolled him in the program because of a flyer he got at school.He attends the camp each of the four days per week it runs.Mondays and Wednesday he packs a lunch to give him energy for the activities such as basketball and canoeing the campers do the rest of the day.Maria Burns and other counselors try to get fruit, milk and a main dish to 20 to 25 hungry children by about 11:30 a.m. each day of the program. She said it goes smoothly.The students who are registered for the program sign up in advance if they expect to be at the camp and want a lunch. Those are the first students to get a lunch.Leftover lunches are given to those who didn't sign up or saved for the next day. The churches are only paid for the lunches they serve."The food gets eaten," Burns said.
