Rotary Club of Alpharetta Volunteers for Summer Lunch Program

From Rotary Club of Alpharetta: On May 31, volunteers from the Rotary Club of Alpharetta partnered with Coordinators from the Ed Isakson/Alpharetta Family YMCA to distribute lunches and engage with children from the Aspen Pointe Apartment complex. The summer lunch program is committed to feeding children who fall into the category of “food insecure,” and normally receive a free or reduced lunch during the school year.

Rotarians will continue to volunteer every Wednesday at 11:45am until children return to school in August.

The program is wonderfully simple, and yet enormously impactful. According to No Kid Hungry campaign, “Food insecurity—the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food— exists in 17.2 million households in America, 3.9 million of them with children.” The Summer Lunch Program will strive to provide children in need in the Alpharetta community with guaranteed lunch five days a week.

Each weekday, the meals are prepared by MUST Ministries at Roswell United Methodist Church. The YMCA Summer Feeding Program Coordinator then transports the 80 to 120 meals to the Aspen Pointe apartment complex. Here, two to six volunteers distribute lunches to the children. This is also a time for volunteers from the Rotary Club of Alpharetta to interact with students in planned activities and games on the outside basketball court.

The Executive Director of Ed Isakson/Alpharetta Y, Scott Doll, is appreciative of The Rotary Club of Alpharetta and the various other civic organizations who volunteer their time to this crucial, on-going program. He says, “The YMCA Summer Lunch program at Aspen Pointe not only gives Alpharetta Rotarians an opportunity to serve lunches to children who may otherwise do without, but we are able to develop relationships through games, arts and crafts, activities and conversation. And while I know the kids appreciate the time we spend with them, I think we benefit equally if not more. It’s such a satisfying way to spend 90-minutes of your time. It can make your day!”

Image Courtesy of Rotary Club of Alpharetta