From the outside, the Southeast Health and Wellness Center looks like any other doctor’s office, but inside one of the rooms there lies a haven for children. Kids timidly walk into the room with their parents, but within a couple of minutes they warm up to their playful surroundings. They quickly make friends with others to play with a beach ball or jump rope.
The tables have paper and coloring sheets for children to draw on. If they don’t want to draw, the kids have the option to play with the toys on the table or watch the movie being projected on the wall. Laughter, smiles and happiness fill the room, but it doesn’t just come from the children. Their parents are smiling because they're grateful for the food their children receive there.
This Food Bank Summer Food Service Program site provides lunch and snacks for children. A relief for families who are struggling to help make ends meet, especially when their children no longer have access to the free or reduced price lunches they receive at school.
“I just think of them being at school and having that one meal and then going home and then not having anything else,” Site Supervisor, Joe Fernandez, said. “I want to fill up their bellies and then let them go.”
At the site, children received a bag with a sandwich, carrots, apples, juice and milk. If the kids wanted a snack, they could get a bag of animal cookies as well.
For seven-year old Erick, the sandwich is his favorite meal, and he was excited to eat it. When he eats it at home, he likes to add cheese, ham, pickles and lettuce.
After being laid off, Erick’s grandma, Maria, is now able to take care of him and her other grand children while their parents are at work. However, without any income, Maria struggles to feed her three grandchildren and takes them to the meal site every day.
“It’s a really good program that benefits many parents, but our children more than anything, because children are children, and they just say, ‘I want, I want’,” Maria said. “The help you give us is quite large.”
The site serves a growing average of 45 children each day and is one of 79 meal sites across Central Texas.
On Tuesdays, families get a little extra help with a bag of fresh produce and fruit they can take home.
Though the site is only open Monday through Friday, children are not left without food during the weekend. On Fridays children can take home a backpack filled with four meals they can eat over the weekend.
“The result will be a healthier and stronger community because they know they are supported, and that will result in a good future for the children, who are the future of this country,” Rocio, a parent attending the site, said.
From now through August 19, children ages 18 and younger can get free, nutritious lunches at participating sites across Central Texas. Find your nearest meal site here.
