Summer meal program open to all Tillamook youth

Tillamook School District’s summer food service program has been delivering more than a hundred meals to kids five days a week this summer and for the past 22 years.

In partnership with the Tillamook United Methodist Church and thanks to the efforts of a dedicated crew of more than twenty volunteers, the program prepares, packages and delivers brown bag lunches to sites across the district.

Scott Wenzel runs the program for the district and recently caught up with the Headlight Herald while he and volunteers were busy putting the finishing touches on 161 lunches.

Wenzel said that the program serves anywhere from 90 to 200 students depending on the day, with higher numbers during summer school sessions, to which the program also provides lunch.

The program began 22 years ago and relies on funding from the Oregon Department of Education to keep school children nourished during summer break. Wenzel makes trips to Costco to pick up supplies and menus vary, with tuna sandwiches, apple sauce, carrots, Rice Krispy treats and creamery-donated Tillamook cheddar cheese representing a typical selection.

After volunteers prepare the meals and bag them up, others take them from Tillamook High School to sites around the district for distribution. Tillamook Library distributes lunches from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. from Monday to Friday and the volunteers set up shop in the parking lots of the Glenhaven, Trask River and Champion Park Apartment complexes between 11:30 and noon to hand out lunches to kids on the same days.

A decision three years ago by the state to allow the county’s three school districts to offer free lunch to all students means that there are no eligibility requirements. Any school-aged child can access the program at the above sites or the group’s Tillamook High School kitchen facility, located behind the cafeteria.

Wenzel encouraged local families to have their children participate and said that the program was always looking for more volunteers. He asked those interested in volunteering to reach out to him directly at (503) 812-9134 or via email at scottkarenanna@yahoo.com.