Summer Food Program serves thousands of meals in Sequim

Whether in smoky or sunny weather, Sequim children had the option for at least one square meal a day this summer, thanks again to the Simplified Summer Food Program for Children.

Between Sequim and Port Angeles, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula spearheaded the program for the US Department of Agriculture to provide thousands of nutritious meals for children 18 and under.

Karen Chan, organizer of the program in Sequim, reports that 12,192 lunches and 4,178 breakfasts were shared in 11 weeks at six locations, including the Sequim Boys & Girls Club (breakfast and lunch), Carrie Blake Community Park, Elk Creek Apartments, Greywolf Elementary School/Sequim Library, SeaBreeze Apartments and Sequim High School.

Boys & Girls Club staff said Sequim High School offered lunch for summer school students and halfway through the summer, the Summer Food Program switched sites from Greywolf to the library.

Port Angeles also offered lunches through Aug. 31 at the Port Angeles Boys & Girls Club, Dream Park, Evergreen Court Apartments, Jefferson Elementary School, Shane Park and Roosevelt Elementary School.

Totals for its program were not available by press time.

Seventeen-year-old club staff member Heidi O’Leary led meal distribution at Carrie Blake Community Park and said depending on the day 30-50 children received meals there.

Smoky days were slow, she said, but the park was one of the busier sites in Sequim.

This was O’Leary’s second year helping with the program and she keeps doing it, she said, “because she knows the kids are going to get something good to eat.”

While the program offered free meals through the week, Sequim Food Bank continued its Weekend Meal Program at Sequim’s sites on Fridays.

Food bank executive director Andra Smith said the organization distributed 856 bags, down about 35 percent from 2017.

Hundreds of volunteers, such as community groups, churches, and parents volunteered at each site in Sequim and Port Angeles, too.

“A huge thanks goes to all the volunteers who make this program a success,” Smith said.

Last year’s Summer Food Program for Children provided 23,839 meals to children in Sequim and Port Angeles.

For more information on the program, call the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula at 360-683-8095.

Heidi O’Leary readies another meal for a child at Carrie Blake Community Park through the Summer Food Program for Children. O’Leary said on average, the program provided 30-50 meals for children this summer except in smoky weather when less people went outside. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Heidi O’Leary readies another meal for a child at Carrie Blake Community Park through the Summer Food Program for Children. O’Leary said on average, the program provided 30-50 meals for children this summer except in smoky weather when less people went outside. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Josie Brocklesby, 15 months, enjoys some chalk before eating some lunch care of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula and the US Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Program for Children. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Josie Brocklesby, 15 months, enjoys some chalk before eating some lunch care of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula and the US Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Program for Children. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash