GOSHEN — Cultivate Food Rescue is once again partnering with Goshen Health and Goshen Community Schools to offer a free lunch program series in city parks.
In addition to Goshen Community Schools’ summer lunch program, Goshen Health will be offering its Summer Health Lunch Bunch program each week at Shanklin, Pringle and Hay parks, and Cultivate will be handing out free weekend frozen food backpacks on Fridays.
The Summer Health Lunch Bunch program aims to improve the health of the community by providing interactive health education to students and their families at participating summer meal sites. According to a hospital press release, more than 9,500 students have participated since the program’s inception.
The Summer Health Lunch Bunch will provide trained educators to administer Goshen Health’s summer health curriculum for students one day a week at each site. At Shanklin Park and Pringle Park, educators will be on-site on Wednesdays, and at Hay Park, educators will be on-site on Thursdays.
Thanks to an American Rescue Plan (ARPA) grant from the City of Goshen, Goshen Health will fund the Cultivate Backpack Program. Approximately 200 backpacks will be distributed each Friday to Goshen’s three lunch sites on a first-come, first-served basis. Each backpack contains six nutritionally balanced meals to help students meet potential food needs throughout the weekend. The program will run from June 3 through July 19, excluding the week of July 1.
“Our community really needs it,” said Stacey Bowers, community engagement manager for Goshen Health.
Summer Health Lunch Bunch and Cultivate also partner with Wanee Community Schools, Elkhart Community Schools and Warsaw Community Schools, which also offer free summer lunch programs. In total, Summer Health Lunch Bunch will be working at 23 free summer lunch sites across Elkhart and Kosciusko Counties this summer.
Lainey Holland Adams, director of planning and programs for Cultivate Food Rescue, explained that the cost per backpack is about $1.53 per meal, and while there’s no food cost, fuel, packaging and overhead means Cultivate is spending about $2,000 a week on food just for its Goshen-based backpacks.
Community partners include the Center for Healing & Hope, the City of Goshen, Elkhart County Health Department, Goshen Farmers Market, Live Well Kosciusko, Minority Health Coalition and Purdue Extension of Elkhart County.
To find a Summer Health Lunch Bunch or backpack distribution location, visit https://goshenhealth.com/programs/summer-health-lunch-bunch .
