Volunteers deliver the goods
North Hills Cares, a nonprofit run by parents in the school district, helps feed families
The pyramid of fresh oranges at one end of the long table is telling. So are the sandwich bags full of blueberries.
The volunteers who assemble bag breakfasts and lunches for children in Ross and West View three days a week make sure the meals are full of nutritious foods.
North Hills Cares, a nonprofit run by parents in the North Hills School District, has seen participation in its annual summer meal program grow five times this year, and organizers feel a lot of the growth is because of the economic pain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, 50 children were registered and about 35 came daily to the North Hills United Presbyterian Church in West View for lunch. This year, the volunteers are assembling meals for an average of 185 children per day, with 250 children registered, said Lynne Sciulli, co-founder of the group.
In previous years, the summer meal program only served children who received free and reduced-cost lunches during the school year — 25% of students districtwide, but 40% at West View Elementary School — “and that was before COVID-19,” Ms. Sciulli said. But the federal government opened the program to all children this year.
The other change is the meals are picked up by parents or delivered by volunteers.
“That was a really big job,” Ms. Sciulli said. “The program had to be ready to be ‘grab and go’ and added breakfast.”
Each family’s bag has four meals – two breakfasts and two lunches – for each registered child.
“We had to think, `What would hold up well? What would kids like?’” she added.
The federal government funds the program, as it does for the free and reduced lunches during the school year. So the volunteers also had to make sure the meals met federal guidelines on protein, sugar and the temperature of the food and milk.
“Two important things: They get milk with every meal, and we try to use 100% fresh produce,” Ms. Sciulli said.
Taylor Dairy loaned the organization two coolers to keep the milk cold. They get 1,000 small cartons of milk, both white and chocolate, delivered twice a week.
They also “try to include a little fun,” she added. Seed packets donated by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank were included one day. Other donated items included activity books and pinwheels for July 4.
On Fridays, they also include tote bags filled with essentials put together by the North Hills Backpack Initiative, which was started by two district staff members in 2012 to supplement weekend food supplies for students who qualify for free meals during the school day.
North Hills Cares is putting together nearly 1,800 meals a week with 10 to 12 kitchen volunteers and five to six drivers each day, Ms. Sciulli said.
“The idea of feeding 180 kids, it was just overwhelming at the beginning, just the amount of food that we needed to buy,” said Beth McIntyre, one of the coordinators of the kitchen crew.
She said she and her college-age son, who also volunteers with the effort, filled her truck on their first trip to Costco. Another volunteer shops at Sam’s Club.
“It’s amazing when you think
about it. I usually feed four people,” Ms. McIntyre said.
She picks up fruits and vegetables in the Strip District early on Saturday or Monday mornings. “It’s crazy when you think about the numbers. We don’t talk about pieces of fruit; we talk about pounds,” she said.
In addition to the oranges and blueberries, that day’s lunch included cups of Rice Krispies cereal, potato salad, a sandwich, pickles, cookie packets and milk. Cars began to drive up to the church at 11:30 a.m. After their names were checked off the list, a bag with meals was placed on the passenger seat or handed to the person sitting in the seat.
If the local economy does not improve by next summer, Ms. McIntyre said, they will be ready to gear up again.
“I’m hoping that things will be back to somewhat normal, but, if not, we will do it,” she said. “And it will be easier next year because we would be a well-oiled machine.
“It does so much good for so many people that you can’t say no.”