Food 4 Summer!

(In the voice of Judy Garland’s Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz ala “Lions…and tigers…and bears…oh my!”)

“Lunches…and prizes…and books…oh my!”

Another new addition to summers in Webster City is the arrival of Food 4 Summer!

This free lunch program runs Monday-Friday from 11:30-12:30 at the Middle School. The program began June 10 and ends on the last Friday in July. Children 18 and under eat for free, and adults can eat for $3.00 each meal.

According to Lori Hartnett, Assistant Director of Food Services at Webster City Schools, over 50 percent of our students are on Free/Reduced lunches during the school year. With many families working during the summer, Food 4 Summer is a great program where children can get nutritious lunches for free.

“We are looking forward to feeding MANY kids and want it to be a POSITIVE atmosphere where ALL children feel welcome,” Hartnett said.

So far this summer, Food 4 Summer has served between 145 and 175 dine-in lunches per day on average.

Children do not need to sign-up or register to participate; they simply can show up to receive their free lunch.

What kinds of food do people receive?

“Hot dogs, chicken strips, pizza, subs, chicken nuggets,” Hartnett said. “They always get meat, grain, fruit, vegetable and milk.”

Not only do children receive a free lunch, but they also have a chance to win prizes!

“We are doing drawings every Friday,” she said. “Prizes include ones from Leon’s Pizza, Dairy Queen, Whooptidoos, Morning Glory, Casey’s, McDonalds, and even pool passes to AmericInn and Webster City Outdoor Municipal Swimming Pool.”

Along with the prizes that have been donated by community businesses, children can also receive books that have been donated.

“We’ve been giving away books,” Hartnett said. “And Diane Bahrenfuss has set up her bookmobile. Kids seem to love it!”

So far, Hartnett said the response from the community has been very strong for this new program.

“Parents seem to really love it, and kids enjoy coming,” she said. “It saves them money and gives the kids a change of scenery.”

Hartnett is thankful for the WC Ministerial Group for providing volunteers and helping with events.

Aside from school-aged children, Hartnett said some people bring their “home daycares” to Food 4 Summer and some parents stop by on their lunch break to have lunch with their children.

“It’s nice for kids who have both parents working or if there’s a shortage of food,” she said. “A variety of ages of kids have been coming but mostly an average of Kindergarten to 6^th Grade.”

Hartnett would like to encourage anyone that would like to participate in Food 4 Summer to come on over to the Middle School.

“I’m sure many people have kids at home during the summer that can eat-out the fridge in a day—I know I do,” she said. “Come and eat lunch with us instead.”

Middle School Principal Becky Hacker-Kluver said they’ve been pretty busy with the new program.

“There is a full house every day,” she said. “Lots of kids eating, playing, socializing–just having a great time!”

She said that parents are enjoying their time too.

“Plus, the food service crew and the volunteers are doing a super job,” she said.

Below are some photos provided by Hacker-Kluver:

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WC’s NEW Bookmobile!

Batman has the Batmobile. The Yeti probably has some sort of snowmobile. And now students participating in the Food 4 Summer program have access to a Bookmobile!

Diane Bahrenfuss usually teaches 3^rd Grade at Sunset Heights Elementary during the school year, and this year she has added one more job to her itinerary for the summer.

Inspired by the Ames Public Library’s bookmobile, Bahrenfuss has started the Webster City Community School District’s FIRST bookmobile!

“I go to Ames nearly every day for my daughter’s gymnastics practice at ISU,” she said. “I started noticing their bookmobile around town in different locations on different days.”

Bahrenfuss made a few visits to the bookmobile to ask them questions and to look at how they set up the interior of their bookmobile.

“I thought it would be a good way to remind kids to read over the summer and to make the books easily accessible,” she said.

Made possible by the Webster City Foundation, the bookmobile has received many big donations of books to help the program get started.

Bahrenfuss said Angie Martin-Schwarze and Linda Brown from Kendall Young Library have been very supportive.

“They donated six boxes of children’s books after the spring Friends of the Library book sale,” she said.

And the University of Iowa College of Education donated over two hundred books from the Curriculum Laboratory.

“It’s great to know a Hawkeye,” she said.

As for the current location of the bookmobile, you can find it at the Middle School during the Food 4 Summer program.

“I thought that it would be a safe and central location to station the bookmobile,” Bahrenfuss said. “I am at the Middle School every Friday. I am also at ACE building every Wednesday.”

Currently, Bahrenfuss takes the books into the Middle School because the bookmobile is her personal van.

“But look for the new bookmobile very soon,” she said.

When she gets the official bookmobile up-and-running, she wants the kids to come inside it.

“Any child who wants to can take a book,” Bahrenfuss said. “Not everyone chooses to do that every day.”

The books are labeled “Bookmobile,” and she explains the procedure to the kids.

There isn’t an official check-in/check-out system because she wants the kids to keep the books as long as they feel they are getting use out of them.

Bahrenfuss reads to small groups of kids, and some kids take the books back to the tables and read while they are finishing their lunches.

“Students seem to enjoy listening to stories and choosing books to take home to read,” she said. “I tell them to return a book when they finish reading it, unless it is so good that they know they will read it over and over. The main thing is to encourage literacy all summer long!”

Below are some photos provided by Bahrenfuss of the current Webster City Bookmobile: