Lunch Program Feeds Hundreds of Kids

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer

“That’s the best lunch meal I’ve had in a long time,” said the 7-year-old boy.

He was talking about the June 15 lunch of chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato, potatoes in olive oil and pesto, seasoned carrots, chocolate milk, and mixed fruit provided by the South Cumberland Summer Meal Program.

“I didn’t eat the kiwi; I don’t like kiwi,” he added. 

With or without kiwi, this is the type of nourishing meal kids in Grundy and Franklin counties are getting for free this summer, thanks to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant and a partnership between the South Cumberland Community Fund and the University of the South.

Kelly Farina, an Americorps VISTA and program coordinator of the meal program, said organizers served more than 2,000 lunches the first week of June. 

“Each of our sites has done a great job reaching out to kids and teens in their communities,” Farina said. “We are very excited about all the great work they are doing and the dedication they have to helping make this program a success.” 

St. James Episcopal Church, Otey Parish, Grundy Housing Authority and May Justus Memorial Library in Monteagle are among more than a dozen sites in the two counties where kids 18 and under can get a free lunch regardless of family income level.

St. James has been the busiest site, Farina noted, with volunteers there serving 40 to 50 kids each day.

University executive chef Rick Wright and staff members of McClurg Dining Hall are preparing about 500 nutritious meals each day, Wright said.

“It would be easier and less expensive to meet the USDA requirements by using processed and packaged foods, as many sponsors do; that is not acceptable for me,” he said. “We do almost everything from scratch and exceed the dietary requirements set by the USDA.” 

A lunch last week included chicken fajitas with grilled natural chicken, local peppers and onions, a whole wheat tortilla and real cheese, with refried pinto beans, Spanish brown rice, and a fresh pineapple and shredded coconut cup.

When school closes for the summer, many children have less to eat. One out of every three children are food-insecure on the Cumberland Plateau, Wright said, adding that most children do not get the minimum requirement of fruits and vegetables. 

“Proper nutrition is critical to a child’s development. Not having enough of the right kinds of food can have serious implications for a child’s physical and mental health, academic achievement and future economic prosperity,” he said. “…No child should be hungry, not even sometimes, and every child should be getting fruits and vegetables.”

Wright credits Farina with much of the work in establishing the meal program. 

“Overall the kids we are serving have really been enjoying the meals,” Farina said. “Everything has been very filling and nutritious, and all the people at McClurg have been doing a great job and are really working to make this program the best it can be.”

The summer meal program will be back next year, Farina added.

Lunch days vary at the meal sites, and the sites also have activities for kids, like reading programs and guest speakers. Otey Parish serves meals from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays; St. James serves from noon to 1 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays; Grundy Housing Authority serves breakfast from 9 to 10 a.m. and lunch from 1 to 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; May Justus Memorial Library has a reading program from 10 to 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with lunch following.

A full schedule is available at “South Cumberland Summer Meal Program” on Facebook, or contact Farina at <sfpvista@gmail.com> or 598-1851 for more information.

Free Summer Meal Program for Children Across the Plateau

The University of the South is sponsoring a food program for children this summer, an effort administered in Tennessee by the Department of Human Services under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program is called the South Cumberland Summer Meal Program. It will provide free meals for young people who qualify for free/reduced-price meals during the school year who may go hungry during the summer. The program’s goal is to improve the health and well-being of young people across the Plateau while providing good food and summer fun at the same time.

According to data from the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, 48 percent of young people in Franklin County qualify for the free/reduced-price lunch program; in Grundy County, 68 percent of young people qualify. Statewide, 44 percent of students qualify for the program. This idea was first envisioned by Rick Wright, executive chef at the Sewanee dining program. He is a longtime advocate for healthy eating. Kelly Farina, an AmeriCorps VISTA member with the University, is the program organizer.

In addition to the meals, at each site there will be a program that will last a minimum of one hour. Some summer meals are being served in partnership with library reading programs, vacation bible schools and other summer programs, and may include such information as nutrition education, gardening activities and art workshops.

Meals will be provided to all children without charge. Acceptance and participation requirements for the program, and all activities are the same for all regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. There will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service. 

Meals will be provided on the following dates and times at these area sites:

Franklin County

Community Action Committee, Otey Parish, Sewanee: June 1–30; Monday and Wednesday; noon–1 p.m.

Crow Creek Valley Community Center, Sherwood: July 1–31; Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

St. James Episcopal Church, Sewanee: June 2– 30; Tuesday and Thursday; noon–1 p.m.

Sewanee Elementary School ESP: June 1–Aug. 14; Monday through Friday; 9:30 a.m. and noon.

Huntland Community Center: June 4–Aug. 13; Thursday; noon–1 p.m.

Rain Teen Center, Winchester: June 3–Aug. 12; Wednesday; 6–9 p.m.

Trinity Episcopal Church, Winchester: June 3–July 30 ; Wednesday and Friday, noon–1 p.m. 

Grundy County

Altamont Community Center: June 1–30; Monday–Friday; noon–1 p.m.

Beersheba Public Library: June 3–24; Wednesday; noon – 1 p.m.

Beersheba Springs Medical Center: June 1–30; Monday; 9 a.m.

Cumberland Baptist Church, Beersheba Springs: July 27–31; Monday–Friday; 6–8 p.m.

Dubose Conference Center, Monteagle: June 1–June 29; Monday, Wednesday, Friday; noon–1 p.m.

First Methodist Church, Tracy City: June 1–5; Monday–Friday; 5–7 p.m.

May Justus Library, Monteagle: June 2–30; Tuesday and Thursday; 10–11 a.m.

Palmer Library: June 18– July 30; Thursday; noon–1 p.m.

Swiss Memorial Elementary Garden Club: June 18– July 30; Monday–Friday; 8 a.m.–noon.

Tracy City Library: July 1–31; Wednesday and Friday; 11 a.m.–noon.

CAC Celebrates 40th Anniversary : Four Decades of Caring for the Greater Sewanee Community

The Community Action Committee turns 40 years old in 2014. In 1974 community members who worshiped at Otey Memorial Parish formed the CAC as an outreach ministry of the church. In the ensuing years, other local churches joined Otey to provide food and assistance to members in the Sewanee community. 

There will be a luncheon celebration to commemorate this achievement at noon, Sunday, Dec. 14, in Claiborne Parish Hall at Otey. All are welcome to attend.

From the beginning of CAC, the first Sunday of the month was designated Pantry Sunday. Church members were asked to bring canned goods so that groceries could be distributed once a month to the CAC clients. CAC also purchased food from Kroger to ensure that the bags of food would be nutritionally balanced. For 26 years the CAC offered groceries once a month to about 20 families. 

In 2001 CAC began its partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee in Nashville. Second Harvest is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to serve food banks and soup kitchens with high-quality food at a low cost to its partner organizations. CAC regularly orders between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds of food every two to three months. This partnership with Second Harvest continues and has proven to be CAC’s best ongoing source of non-perishable foods for clients. Pantry Sunday continues, as well, offering people the opportunity to donate food items and toiletries. Fresh produce has also been available through local gardens and from a distribution center in Winchester. 

CAC also provides assistance with utility bills, housing, education needs and dental care. CAC serves the greater Sewanee area (including Midway and Jump Off) and the Sherwood community. 

CAC is an outreach ministry of Otey Parish. It is governed by a board composed of community members, representatives of local churches, the University and the School of Theology. Partner churches include St. James Episcopal Church and Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

The Rev. Betty Carpenter is the CAC director; volunteers from across the community and area schools help keep the office open, bag groceries and assist with new projects. The University also provides the CAC with students in the Bonner Scholars Program. Community lunches, container gardens and the quilting project are programs that have recently been launched. For more information about CAC or its anniversary event call 598-5927.

—by Pixie Dozier,
Special to the Messenger

South Cumberland Community Fund Awards Grants to Nine Groups

The South Cumberland Community Fund (SCCF) announced its latest grant recipients on Aug. 3 at the DuBose Conference Center in Monteagle. The grants, made to nine area nonprofit organizations, total nearly $64,000.

“One of the primary functions of the Community Fund is to support people and organizations who are making the South Cumberland Plateau a healthier, better-educated, and culturally richer place. We’re proud to honor these nine groups for the work they are doing and to support them in our fourth round of grants,” said Scott Parrish, SCCF board chair. “This, together with our investment of $60,000 in capacity-building initiatives, will mean a total investment in our community of nearly $125,000 by the Community Fund in 2014.”

The grant recipients and their programs for which they will receive funding are:

Animal Alliance-South Cumberland is a six-year old, all-volunteer spay/neuter program that works to reduce the cost and suffering of unwanted and abandoned dogs and cats on the Plateau. To date, the Alliance has sterilized more than 2,500 animals in the community. A prior grant from SCCF for the “Fix by Four” project enabled the Alliance to conduct an educational program advocating the sterilization of pets by the age of 4 months before their first litter and to subsidize the cost of spay/neuter procedures and rabies vaccinations for such pets owned by low-income residents of the community. This new grant of $3,600 for “The Big Fix” project targets medium to large breed dogs, the ones most likely to have large litters, create neighborhood problems, and suffer from abuse. With these funds, Animal Alliance will be able to help 50 low-income residents sterilize their large breed dogs. 

Appalachian Women’s Guild is a 25-year old grass-roots organization that provides “a hand up, not a handout” to help meet the basic needs of impoverished residents of our region. The organization aspires to do a significant upgrade to its aging facilities over the next few years. The immediate focus is the thrift shop, which generates the lion’s share of AWG’s income. This grant of $7,000 will refurbish and promote the store in order to provide a more appealing shopping experience and generate greater revenues for the programs offered by AWG.

The City of Altamont proposes to increase the utilization of the auditorium of the Florence Scruggs Building for theatrical, musical and dance performances. The City intends to develop a calendar of high quality events that will attract paying audiences. A snack bar will generate additional income to sustain the programs, some of which will feature professional/semi-professional artists. A grant from SCCF will enable the City to install a sound system in the facility. In addition, the Paul S. McConnell Music Grant, awarded to SCCF to support music on the plateau, will provide underwriting for performances by local musicians in the venue. The total amount of the grant is $6,725.

Coalmont Elementary School, in partnership with the Grundy Health Council and the University of the South, has focused in recent years on increasing exercise and physical activity in its after-school program. Now it is time to promote healthy physical activities for the entire school and surrounding community. Recognizing the limited availability of safe walking spaces in the area, the school proposes to construct a quarter-mile walking track around the adjacent ball field. This grant of $10,000 is directed toward the cost of installing the track; the project has also attracted the support of the Bristol Myers Foundation.

Community Action Committee is a ministry of the Otey Parish of Sewanee. It provides groceries for over three hundred families per week, plus assistance with utilities, medical, employment and housing needs. All clients are below the poverty level. This grant of $2,660, aimed at food security and sustainability, will enable CAC to provide chicken coops and starter flocks for two clients willing to maintain them for the benefit of themselves and their neighbors. In addition, ten container gardens will be provided to elderly and disabled residents.

Mountain Goat Trail Alliance is a rails-to-trails recreation project seeking to create a multi-use corridor along a 35-mile track from Cowan in Franklin County to Palmer in Grundy County. The first section of the trail, between Sewanee and St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School, is complete, and construction of the next section from SAS to Monteagle will begin this year. A previous grant from the fund is enabling MGTA to complete the acquisition of rail bed between Tracy City and Palmer. This new grant of $10,000 will support the purchase of additional rail bed between Monteagle and Tracy City, plus provide partial compensation for a contract employee to administer a Recreational Trails grant recently awarded by Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. 

St. James Episcopal Church in Midway, with a grant from the Dandridge Trust, constructed a playground 20 years ago to serve the community. It is the only recreational space available to the children of this community. Today the playground equipment has deteriorated and fallen behind contemporary safety standards. This grant of $10,000 from the fund will enable the church to refurbish the playground with new swings, rubber mulch, basketball backboards and nets, and soccer goals, plus the addition of picnic tables. The church provides liability insurance and general maintenance of the playground.

Swiss Memorial Elementary School, serving the Gruetli-Laager community, has worked in partnership with the Grundy County Health Council, the school health program, and the school nutrition program to focus on strategies to combat chronic health conditions. With grant support and innovation funding, these partners have been able to build a greenhouse and a community garden to make healthy foods available for students, staff and the community. This SCCF grant of $3,760, made possible by a grant from the Bonnaroo Works Fund, will help pay for an after-school program that will provide training in many aspects of nutrition, such as planting and maintaining a garden, farmers’ markets, food preservation and vegetarian cooking.

The South Cumberland Learning and Development Center, operating under the auspices of Tracy City, is a bold undertaking to refurbish the old high school and make it available for lifelong learning programs for youth and adults that improve employment preparation, health and educational outcomes, and increase community connections by fostering collaboration and partnerships. This grant of $10,000 goes toward the local match required to access a $500,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission for renovation of the building.