I am very excited to inform you we had a very productive Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative children’s summer feeding program meeting April 15.

There are many food-insecure children who rely on the free and reduced-rate breakfasts and lunches served in the Whitehall-Coplay School District during the school year.

To fill the gap over this year’s 10-week summer break, WCHI is committed to feeding 500 food-insecure children throughout Whitehall and Coplay while school is closed. This will include toddlers though age 18, since we will feed every child in the household.

We have decided on six locations. Three are from our 2020 community outreach programs, and the other three were chosen strategically with assistance from the school district. Some of the locations are school bus stops.

Locations include South Church and Park streets, Egypt; Third and Leisenring streets, Cementon; Coplay and Second streets, Coplay; St. John’s Lutheran Church, 835 S. Third St., Fullerton; Maryland Circle, Whitehall; and the upper parking lot at Mickley Run Apartments, Whitehall. This location can also serve children at Olympic Gardens and Spring Ridge apartments.

Each site will have teams of three to five approved WCHI volunteers. Every volunteer must have the child abuse clearances as outlined on our website, whitehallcoplayhungerinitiative.org/volunteer-forms.html.

We have several volunteers already committed to assisting with this program, including members of the Whitehall Area Rotary Club. We can use several more. Volunteers do not have to work every distribution day, unless they wish.

To volunteer, go to whitehallcoplayhungerinitiative.org/volunteer-signup.html.

A prepackaged bag of shelf-stable food and fresh produce will be provided for each child Mondays and Wednesdays.

With the Monday distribution, the children will be given food to cover breakfast and lunch Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, they will receive food to cover breakfast and lunch Wednesday through Friday. Baby food may be available.

A parent or caregiver is allowed to pick up the food for children in the household. The food distribution guests will be registered by household in keeping with the same process as the WCHI food pantry.

Patricia Karo, WCHI secretary, and I wrote and submitted a grant request to Lehigh County for a Community Development Block Grant available through the CARES Act for food security. Our application, along with others from the county, will be reviewed at the April 28 Lehigh County Board of Commissioners meeting.

WCHI is hopeful our request will be approved. The grant request is mainly for food we cannot obtain from Second Harvest Food Bank and for marketing materials.

WCHI will obtain food from Second Harvest for this program. Items not available from Second Harvest include 40-pack Quaker fruit and cream hot cereal, 52-pack Quaker instant oatmeal variety pack, 24-pack Jumex tropical punch, 24-pack Apple & Eve apple juice, 36-pack Nutri Grain variety pack bars, 42-pack Famous Amos chocolate cookies and Lance peanut butter crackers.

These quantities are at Sam’s Club, but any size can be purchased at local grocery stores.

All monetary and food donations are greatly appreciated and may be shipped or dropped off at Re/Max Unlimited Real Estate, 1080 Schadt Ave., Whitehall, 18052. Checks should be made payable to WCHI, mailed to the same address. Write children’s summer feeding program, or CSFP, in the memo section.

Please like us on our Facebook page, Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative.

Thank you, and have a great week.