EVERY MEAL MATTERS
Providing Weekend Meals for Kids in Need
About
Food For Kids Merrill
Rev. Sue Christian and her husband, Don, initiated the Food Kids program, partnering with four local churches to provide bags of food for "at-risk" children in nearby elementary schools, ensuring they have meals to enjoy over the weekends. When Sue and Don decided to retire, the program's future seemed uncertain. Thankfully, the pastor at Saint and the Church Council stepped up, committing to support this essential initiative, with Saint Stephens United of Christ acting as the administering agency since 2017. Since then, devoted members of Saint Stephens, alongside generous community volunteers, have kept the program flourishing, delivering thousands of meals to children in our area!
We have six schools that participate in our Food For Kids program: Pine River School for Young Learners, Washington Elementary, Kate Goodrich Elementary, Prairie River Middle School (Grades 5 & 6 only), St. John Lutheran School, and Trinity Lutheran School. Food For Kids addresses food insecurity by providing children with supplementary meals for weekends when school not in session and when school breakfast and lunch programs are unavailable. Our program supplies kid-friendly, shelf-stable food bags containing items such as cereal, heat-and-eat single-serve meals, pudding, fruits, granola bars, snacks, and more. These bags are delivered to the schools, and on Friday afternoons, your child’s teacher or aide discreetly place the bag in their backpack before dismissal. This program is accessible to any students who qualify for free and reduced lunch or those recommended to our program.
**If your family qualifies for free or reduced lunch and would like to participate in our program, please reach out to your child's school for an application. Each child requires a separate application, which should be returned to their respective school. Our program is designed to be anonymous; only the schools will know which children are participating.
