Boys & Girls Clubs of the Kenai Peninsula is getting geared up to take care of area children, with all schools on the peninsula officially being in-session. They are now offering weeknight dinners to children that can be picked-up by parents.
Rachel Chaffee, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Kenai Executive Director spoke with KSRM News on Thursday, discussing the dinner pick-up program: “We have a free dinner service program. In Kenai, it’s at Kaleidoscope which is kind of handy – it’s right there with parent pick-up. We figured it’s a nice central location for anybody in Kenai. Kaleidoscope Elementary is from 5 – 5:30 p.m. In Soldotna, we’re serving at Soldotna Elementary School from 4 – 4:40 p.m. At Nikiski North Star Elementary, it’s 5 to 5:30 p.m. It’s grab-and-go. Anybody who shows up with a child will get a meal.”
One fact she emphasized is that students do not need to be Boys & Girls Clubs members to participate, and parents can pick up meals without children being there, unlike the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s lunch pick-up program: “They don’t have to be a member, they don’t have to be at KPBSD, they just have to be there with a kid. That said, if they don’t have a kid [with them], we understand that. We’re just asking that if they’re a member, they’ll get a meal regardless, they just have to let us know they’re a member. But if their child is registered in-school, they just need some proof that their child is registered locally, and that can even be at a home school locally, and they’ll get a meal. We’re a lot more loose than some of the other agencies because we received a different set of agencies that allows us to do that.”
Chaffee hopes that the ease of their dinner program will hopefully last beyond the end of the year: “The reality is, we did receive CARES funding, so that is what is allowing us to do this. That ends in December. So, we may have to change the restrictions. Our hope is that they extend some of the waivers and some of our other grants will kick-in and help us, but at least through December, we can offer it in a very easy way for families, which was our intention. Part of the grant that’s allowing us to feed the community also purchased us brand new vans. So, you basically see our brand new van, they should have a table set-up, and you come up to the meal. We are asking to respect social distancing, just because of the whole pandemic, but you basically drive-up, you grab a meal, and you go.”
They hope to have more announcements in coming weeks, so stay with KSRM News for continued coverage of how Boys & Girls Clubs’ efforts to support the community of the Kenai Peninsula.
