This summer, parents can visit the Chandler Public Library to nourish more than their children’s minds.
The library is joining a food distribution program sponsored by the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Department of Education, USDA, Love’s and Feeding America. The program will provide free boxes of food for children in the area, according to Assistant Librarian Carla Hale.
“This is kind of a stop-gap program for the summer months when the kids aren’t in school,” she said. It is meant to pick up where free or reduced lunches at public schools stop while kids are out for the summer.
The library will be a grab-and-go location since it doesn’t have the facility to provide actual meals during the day. Hale said each box will contain enough shelfstable food to feed one child for five days.
“I think that is going to be a popular option with parents and kids because this way, they can use what’s in the box in ways that suit their family needs,” she said.
The program isn’t income-based and is open to any family with children aged one to 18, regardless of where they go to school. Each child can get one box every five days or two boxes every 10 days, Hale explained. Each box has five breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals.
Some paperwork is involved, mainly, parents must register their children to pick up boxes. They can do this when they come to pick them up, or they can do it before pick-up day to save time.
Libraries across the state are participating in the program. Hale said she learned about it when the director of children’s programming at the Oklahoma Department of Libraries sent out information on the opportunity.
“Libraries are seriously looking for ways we can support the community, not just ours, but libraries across the state are working to support our communities in every way that we can,” Hale said.
Volunteers or parents looking to register their children can call the library, email chale@chandlerok.com or text 405-258-3204.