SEQUIM — Thanks to a donation from the Rotary Club of Sequim, staff members with Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula will be able to provide healthy lunches to underprivileged children at an additional site this summer.
“We are adding another site here in Sequim this summer, and it gives kids a place to go to have a good healthy lunch,” said Dave Miller, Sequim unit director.
Anther unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs is in Port Angeles.
During the summer of 2014, staff members at the Sequim unit made more than 20,000 lunches that were delivered to about seven sites throughout Sequim and Port Angeles.
The lunches provided by the Boys & Girls Clubs include a protein item, a vegetable, a fruit and milk.
“One day it will be a sandwich, the next day it will be a chicken leg,” Miller said.
“It hits the whole gamut of the food spectrum. It is very healthy. It is nothing bought out of a can. It is all bought here locally.”
And donations from the public of apples and other produce are given out, he added.
On an average day last summer, the staff members served up to about 650 lunches a day.
Now “we are looking to exceed what we did last year with the summer food program,” Miller said.
New kitchen equipment was purchased through fundraising efforts by the Rotary Club, whose $2,500 was matched by a $2,500 grant from Rotary District 5020, which includes Vancouver Island and western Washington.
The new equipment, including an ice machine, was installed by Eric Schwartz of Olympic Restaurant Supply at no cost to the Boys & Girls Clubs.
The original kitchen equipment in the Sequim unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs was installed when the building was constructed in 2000.
Recently a new, replacement commercial dishwasher was donated by Sequim Sunrise Rotary.
In addition to the ice machine, the Rotary Club of Sequim also was “able to purchase some new equipment like stainless steel tables [and] storage containers — things that get used up over the years,” said Rochelle McHugh, Rotary Club of Sequim foundation chair.
He added that the club decided to donate the items to ensure underprivileged children don’t go hungry in the summer months.
Another improvement is the addition of a commercial meat slicer.
“They will be able to slice their own meats,” McHugh said.
The new equipment will help streamline the summer feeding program, designed to provide nourishing meals to underprivileged children ages 1 to 18 when school is out and the free and reduced lunch program is not available.
The Sequim summer lunch program begins June 22, while the Port Angeles program begins June 15.
This year’s distribution sites have not yet been finalized, miller said.
“We pack nine coolers for site distribution of lunches, and the ice machine will aid with not only time savings but cost,” said Janet Gray, resource development director.
“The ice machine alone [has] a huge impact for us at the club here, not just with the summer food program, but on a daily basis,” Miller added.
“We don’t have to have ice packs available. We can hit the ice machine for the kids if there is an injury.”
And “we have what we call ‘Kid’s Cafe’ once a week where the kids come in and buy Italian sodas,” Miller continued.
“That ice is there, so we don’t have to worry about getting ice anymore.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052; at cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
