We need volunteers. Again. Now.
On May 13, Saginaw’s third annual “Team Up to Clean Up” was a heart-warming success for all 300 people involved, and we will keep the momentum going this fall, God willing, with a repeat event. For our reward this summer, we will see our ARPA funds begin to take effect, with our expanded crews and equipment out there to start attacking the more difficult abandoned property challenges.
And so now please allow me to introduce, “Meet Up and Eat Up,” a program to provide school-lunch type meals during the summer months. After all, if we provide this nutrition during January, should not we also in June and July?
We need volunteers because the federal government provides the food through USDA, but does not pay for staff to oversee neighborhood sites. Some schools and community centers will have Meet/Eat, but we need as many neighborhood places as we can find. This will allow us to reach more of the smaller children, preschool and early elementary, along with any who lack car rides to the regular places.
The big challenge is that we can do cleanups on Saturdays, but for Meet Up and Eat Up we need folks on weekday lunch hours.
If you would like to get involved, here are the startup steps:
- Find a location, indoors or outside.
- Form a team of volunteers so that at least two can be there to supervise on weekdays, from about noon to 1:30. (For example, with a team of 10 people who volunteer one day a week, you have that covered.)
- Picnic school lunch-type meals from USDA will be delivered, and they will pick up the daily trash. If possible, also include recreation and education activities.
- If your church is conducting Vacation Bible School, you may consider expanding into a small program for neighborhood children.
- The program begins Monday, June 19, and continues into August. You could choose five days a week, or maybe three, down to one day a week.
To make official arrangements, contact Kathleen Payton from the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan at (810) 396-0227 or kpayton@fbem-us.
After contacting Ms. Payton, if you still have questions, or if you are an individual willing to join a site crew, please send a note to me at bmoore@saginaw-mI.com, or leave a message for me at City Hall, (989) 759-1403.
To learn more, you may Google “Summer Food Service Program” or “Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.”
Following is some added information:
Even with our established summer programs, fewer than 20 percent of eligible children take advantage — not because we lack the food, but because we lack volunteers to pass it out. Think of it, really, we are leaving food on the table. Or, in even more stark terms, there would be political outrage if funding for child nutrition was cut by 80 percent, but by leaving food on the table, this in effect is the result. Can’t we do better? That is the purpose of this initiative.
Ideally, Greater Saginaw would have locations within four blocks or less of any home, because the main children who miss out are preschool and early elementary. My own experience is that with neighborhood sites, often we see a parent or an older sibling walking to a site with younger ones following.
If you would be able to incorporate some activities — hula hoops, kickballs, sidewalk chalk, and so forth — we all know today’s kids need physical exercise more than ever.
So please consider at least giving this a try, this free-of-charge opportunity. While professionals take over our cleanup during the summer months, we still have roles for volunteers, and that includes any of you who are reading these words.
Voters elected Brenda Moore to the City Council in 2013, and she is serving her third year as mayor. She has served as Board President for the Michigan Municipal League and in leadership with related groups. She is a product of Saginaw High School and Delta College, honored in May as distinguished alumni.
