A young student is sitting in his room in the middle of Spring break, listening to the overwhelming growls produced by his stomach that portray his obvious hunger. Unlike his other classmates, who are home eating their meals, this student is without a lunch. However, today a brown bag was waiting for him. It was colorful compared to those of other students, decorated with jokes and bright hearts. The side the bag reads ‘Lunches of Love.’ The boy enjoys his meal and is comforted with the idea that the people associated with the Lunches of Love Organization are looking out for him.
“Decorating the bags is important because it gives the lunches some character that will hopefully serve to brighten the day of the recipient” said senior Casey Roach, the NHS president that is participating in helping decorate bags for hungry children.
Lunches of Love (LoL) is a program that benefits unfortunate groups of children in LCISD and FBISD. It began as a volunteer opportunity in at the First United Methodist Church in Rosenberg, helping about 150 children. Now, they are bringing food to an outstanding 4,000+ children in the area.
“Lunches of Love itself is concentrated in the Fort Bend area, but there are many similar programs in various countries that have the same mission and are working towards the same goal,” said Roach.
Adriane Grey, director and creator of the program, set a goal to expand Lunches of Love to Title 1 schools. Lunches of Love is committed to bringing an end to childhood hunger. Tompkins High School is now helping out through their NHS program by decorating bags for the kids lunches to go in for volunteer hours.
“LoL is constantly looking for volunteers to decorate bags, donate food, help with the assembling of lunches, and help with the distribution of the lunches throughout the community. Furthermore, because LoL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, monetary donations are also welcomed,” said Roach.
Each lunch only costs approximately 75 cents. Inside the brown paper bag, a child will receive a fully nutritious lunch. For their main entree they will receive spaghetti, a sandwich or a hot dog. As a side they will get a mini bag of Goldfish, pretzels or Wheat Thins. For the low-fat snack, students will get fruit or yogurt. Finally, they will get a juice box or water for their beverage. With over 87 percent of the community’s Title 1 schools being on free or reduced lunches during the school year, schools like Tompkins make sure that these unfortunate kids will still be able to get food over holidays and breaks.
“While not all of KatyISD participates, many organizations do work with this organization when they need to get involved in the community because it is a simple way to impact the community,” said Roach.
Lunches of Love is an opportunity to keep kids in healthy conditions year round. Students that remain in healthy conditions by having meals to eat, results in them achieving higher test scores and overall academic performance. The NHS students have already helped this non-profit organization, but they are always looking for help to pack up lunches. To volunteer, go to the website http://lunchesoflove.net/ or call 832-586-6995. Volunteer today to fight towards the end of childhood starvation and make a child’s day brighter.
“Rather than just receiving a brown paper bag, students receiving these lunches now have something to brighten their day. It serves as a reminder that people in the community care about them. Decorating the bags is a simple act, but it is able to potentially provide a little source of happiness to the recipient, knowing that someone within the community took the time to decorate a bag to provide encouragement to them,” said Roach.
