Church members work together to feed children
Water day wraps up the summer program, and distributes 70 bags of school supplies.
Volunteers at Second Avenue United Methodist Church were busy this summer making sure area children had tasty lunches and fun activities during their summer break.
“As of Tuesday, we’ve served 630 meals to children,” said Betty Albers, coordinator of the Smart Kids, Smart Lunch program at the church. The church received its food through the school nutrition program at Floyd County Schools and Action Ministries Rome.
“Our congregation has worked hard and we’ve had so many volunteers come forward and help out,” she added.
The church not only made sure the children were fed, but any adult who brought children in for a lunch would not go away hungry, she added. Adults were always given at least a sandwich and some tea or lemonade if they wanted.
Also, church members held a water day and cookout Wednesday as a final celebration of the program and were giving out 70 bags filled with school supplies, Albers added.
“This is our third year,” Albers said. “We couldn’t do it without help from our sponsors.”
Local companies and organizations including Kroger, Floyd Medical Center’s ambulance service, Home Depot, Michaels, Rome-Floyd Fire Department, Georgia Power, the YMCA, the Agape Puppets and All About Fun have all contributed to not only the food but the activities, she said.
“We not only fed the kids, but we made sure they had enriching activities,” explained Albers. “We had arts and crafts and puppet shows and we read books and played games. We’ve had the slippery water slide a few times, too.”
Albers said she found several members of the church’s congregation with special talents who were willing to help out.
“One of our members read stories to the children one day and she did such a wonderful job,” she said. “It is really inspiring to see so many come together to help the children and build relationships.”