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Published Monday, February 06, 2012 in Local

Photo by Winston Skinner

Members of area Methodist churches listen as Mark Hellman explains the details of the Smart Lunch — Smart Kid program to provide lunches for youngsters this summer.

Smart Lunch, Smart Kid seeks to feed youngsters

By Winston Skinner

The Newnan Times-Herald

Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid.

There are lots of statistics making a connection between good nutrition and learning, and the Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid project is aiming to make sure children get a nutritious midday meal this summer when they are out of school. Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid is an outreach of Action Ministries, which has a variety of programs -- addressing homelessness, poverty, education and issues relating to women and children -- across the state.

Action Ministries brought Mark Hellman aboard Dec. 1 as executive director of Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid. He has been traveling the state drumming up interest in the program which urges groups to get together to feed children in their communities who need a meal this summer.

Meetings have been held at several United Methodist churches in the state. "Action Ministries has been around since the '60s. It came out of the United Methodist Church," Hellman explained. The ministry is now non-denominational.

Interested volunteers from Coweta, Fayette and Meriwether counties attended Hellman's program on Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid at First United Methodist Church in Fayetteville. Hellman said Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid is looking to find organizations that will "serve areas that are not being served in the summertime."

Most children from low income families get free or reduced price lunches at school five days a week during the school year. Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid grew from a concern about what happens to those children during the 8-10 weeks when there is no school during the summer break.

"What is a Smart Lunch? A Smart Lunch is a sack lunch built by volunteers," Hellman said. Those volunteers can be a Sunday school class, members of the Junior League, just about any organization.

"It could be a business. I could be a Girl Scout troop, a Boy Scout troop, a church youth group," he said.

The goal is a cost effective, nutritious meal that can be easily prepared -- a sandwich, a salty snack, fruit and water. The salty snacks can be pretzels, peanuts or chips, and the fruit can be fresh or packaged.

"Volunteers make them. Volunteers provide the ingredients," Hellman said. By purchasing in bulk, "these lunches can be made for less than $2 a lunch," he said.

The goal is for each community to provide 400 meals a day, five days a week.

Action Ministries will provide magnetic signage for vehicles, bins for transporting lunches and training for the coordinator. Sponsoring groups are asked to provide funding for the community coordinator -- about $20,000 for the summer.

That money pays the coordinator and mileage. "None of that is for Action Ministries' overhead. None of that is for my salary," Hellman said. "Everything stays in your community -- 100 percent of it."

Hellman acknowledged the cost is a challenge for some groups, but he said organizations working together can often find the funds. Sometimes business partnerships and sponsorships can help.

"Keep thinking collaborative. Keep thinking partnership," he urged.

Hellman said volunteers who take on the project may lose interest or get a job that takes them away mid-summer. He said college students or retirees often make good coordinators because they are not likely to leave for a full-time job. Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid is looking for coordinators who are connected in their communities and who are committed to overseeing the meal distribution for the entire summer.

Having the coordinator be an employee tends to engender a greater sense of responsibility and gives Action Ministries more accountability.

The project can be structured with five different groups sharing funding for the coordinator and each group preparing meals one day each week.

Meals are taken to various locations "determined by where you determine the need is," Hellman said. In some cases, that might be an apartment complex's community room or a mobile home park's basketball court. In Hart County, a church that is within two blocks of many children who need a meal has been used.

Hellman said that in Gainesville, Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid actually has taken meals door-to-door along a stretch of road where there are low income families.

"The program's going to look different in every area. It is not a cookie cutter program," Hellman observed.

Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid uses Safe Sanctuary guidelines. Meals are delivered by pairs of volunteers -- preferably one male and one female. It is Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid's policy to place the sack lunches into the hands of children. Adults cannot just show up and say they need a certain number of lunches.

Hellman noted there are programs that provide food, but stressed Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid couples food with educational and cultural opportunities for youngsters. "We are a ministry," he stressed, not just a food program.

He said Action Ministries will not be accessing U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance with food for its program. "We're not big enough -- nor are we designed to handle a lot of the red tape and paperwork," Hellman said.

He said he and others in Actions Ministries' leadership believe "we can handle this ourselves." An independent approach "allows us a lot more flexibility," he stated.

For organizations that are too small to mount the full Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid program, a $500 program offers tubs, magnetic signs, a banner and access to Hellman's expertise. Those organizations would serve 100 meals or less per day.

More information on Smart Lunch -- Smart Kid is available at actionministries.net or from Hellman at mhellman@am.net .

"We are moving fast on this program," Hellman said of Smart Lunch--Smart Kid. "School will be out very, very soon."

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