I am so excited to announce the expansion of our free Whitehall-Coplay summer breakfast camp to three locations this year. A big thank you goes out to St. John’s Lutheran Church, 835 Third St, Fullerton; Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, 4331 Main St, Egypt; and Redeemed Christian Church of God, 5 N. Third St., Coplay.

Our breakfast camp is available free to all Whitehall and Coplay residents in kingergarten through grade 12. The three locations will be open 8:30-10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday from June 18 to Aug. 24. We provide hot and cold breakfast, a bagged lunch to take home and a weekend bag of food. We also encourage at least 15 minutes of reading daily to prevent the “summer slide.” Research shows if children do not read over two summers, their reading level falls back three years. We also do fun activities and crafts and play games. We have themed weeks, and the kids have loads of fun.

There will be a planning meeting 4 p.m. May 16 at St. John’s for volunteers from all three breakfast locations. Would you like to be a volunteer? Please come, and bring your friends. This will be a logistical meeting to coordinate our program, so it is consistent at all three locations.

All kids and families are invited to our kick-off party 4-6 p.m. May 20 at St. John’s. There will be a free, light picnic dinner along with games and activities. This is a rain-or-shine event. For more information on this party, contact Lana Snyder at 610-533-1357. We plan on registering the kids at this time.

We thank our summer breakfast partners, including 4-H and Penn State Extension, BB&T, Communities That Care, Cops ‘n’ Kids Lehigh Valley, Catholic Diocese of Allentown, Egypt Star Bakery, Elias Farm Market, Lehigh Valley Juvenile Probation officers, Muslim Association of Lehigh Valley, Natural Food Groups, Raven One to One Marketing, Second Harvest Food Bank, Thrivent Financial, Toys for Tots, UPMC, Whitehall Area Rotary Club, Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners, Whitehall and Coplay public libraries and Whitehall-Coplay School District.

We are in need of food items: large and small individual boxes of cereal, individually wrapped fruit snacks, individual cups of microwaveable Chef Boyardee and macaroni and cheese, individual fruit and applesauce cups, cheese cracker packs (no peanut butter please), 8-ounce individual shelf-stable milk, string cheese sticks, shelf-stable (not refrigerated) pudding cups and kid-friendly soups. We also need gently used books and games. These items can be dropped off at both the Whitehall and Coplay public libraries and at Re/Max Unlimited, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall. Donations can be made payable to the Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative and mailed to Shari Noctor at the Re/Max Unlimited address.