It may be difficult for residents of Oak Park, a village in which the median household income is $75,118, to grasp the fact that 22% of the children in town live in families that qualify for free school lunches, and that at Beye Elementary School, 230 N. Cuyler Ave., over 40 percent of children fall in that category.
To qualify for a free lunch, a family of two — a single parent and a child — must have an annual income of less than $20,827, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s (USDA) website. Thanks to the USDA’s school lunch program, children from low-income families are assured of getting at least one nutritious meal a day from September through May.
But what about when school is not in session?
“Summer is a tough time for kids and families that are food insecure,” said Jonathan Ellwanger, principal of Beye School. “We happened to be in a position geographically to meet the requirements for becoming a site and this is a perfect opportunity to support our most vulnerable community members. Schools are not just learning centers, they are community centers, and this kind of opportunity drives home that vital role.”
The USDA categorizes Beye, because of the low-income population it serves, an open site, meaning anyone under the age of 18 who walks into Beye School between noon and 1:30, Monday through Friday during the summer months, will receive a free lunch no questions asked and no need to provide a parents’ W2 to prove eligibility.
Beye School became a site in June for the Summer Feeding Program administered by the OP-RF Food Pantry. Brendan Stelmach, an intern from Georgetown University and the Beye program’s site manager, arrives at the school a little before 11 a.m., receives the cold prepackaged lunches from the vendor who has been hired to provide them, and stores them in the refrigerator. During the next hour, volunteers arrive, wash the tables, ensure all signs and menus are posted, and set up kids activities, such as coloring, games or playing on the playground.
Lunches including milk, a portion of fruit, some sort of protein and a vegetable.
“We rely heavily on volunteers,” said Stelmach, “to make these sites run smoothly. The interns are present for continuity sake, but the volunteers who fit their service to their schedules make it possible to give every visitor a great experience.”
If it takes a village to feed a child, the “village” includes the USDA which provides the funding. The Illinois State Board of Education administers it in Illinois following the regulations from the USDA. The Archdiocese of Chicago through Food Service Providers acts as the “sponsor,” which hires the vendor who provides the actual meals every day. The OP-RF Food Pantry administers it locally, and District 97 provides the space and volunteers make it happen.
Given the complex network of agencies, organizations and volunteers, Stelmach said, “Cooperation is a necessity to make this program go smoothly. The complicated chain of funding between various organizations and the government necessitates a lot of paperwork and openness. From what I have seen, the links have all been very smooth and transparent.”
Michele Zurakowski, director of the food pantry, noted that although nutrition is the main focus of the Summer Feeding Program, relationships are important, too. “That’s something we do in a lot of our work at the food pantry,” she said. “We are very clear about the aspect of dignity and respect.”
She wants grandmothers, for instance, who may be taking care of the kids, to feel, “I know my grandchildren need food, and that this food is free, and oh, I’ve heard these people are really kind and they really want to engage my grandchildren in these activities. All of these things are going to motivate me to find the time to walk my grandkids over to Beye School to get a meal.”
Stelmach reported that the biggest turnout for one day so far has been 17 children, the majority of whom are between 7 and 12 years old.
While racial differences are fairly obvious to any observer, Stelmach noted that people living in poverty can be kind of invisible.
“There is certainly hunger in Oak Park,” he said, “and the greatest danger to those in need is the assumption that they do not exist. Programs like our summer meals service act as a recognition and prescription to the problems that many people are unaware of in our community.”
