Last summer, attendance at summer lunch donation sites plummeted. It didn’t mean kids weren’t hungry.
In fact, it was quite the opposite, said Allison Goodwin of Redwood Empire Food Bank. Each summer, the Santa Rosa based organization sets up at dozens of donation sites including public schools, libraries and low-income housing complexes.
During the pandemic, the need was great, and accessibility was at its highest. USDA regulations on distribution loosened, allowing families to pick up food and take it home to their children, who during the summer did not have access to the free and reduced lunches offered during the school year.
But then the USDA waivers expired. Families had to bring their children to donation sites, and they had to eat the food on the premises.
It caused an immediate decline in participation, Goodwin said, as many working families could not access the 30-minute window during the work day.
“Unfortunately little has changed from an advocacy standpoint,” Goodwin said.
But there are a few changes, however small. One of the most important is that in some rural areas, parents will be able to pick up food and take it their kids without having to bring them to a donation site.
This includes donation sites west of Sebastopol, in Guerneville and Monte Rio. Parts of Sonoma Valley have also been designated rural areas, and will also have less restrictive pickup rules.
“The definition (of ‘rural’) was really limited,” Goodwin said. “That definition has since expanded, but in terms of Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park and Petaluma — they don’t count. It still won’t solve all of the access concerns we saw last year.”
And while these are changes are improvements from last summer, they’re not perfect, Goodwin said.
Cloverdale would have also fallen under rural rules for pickups, but because the donation site — Cloverdale Regional Library — is near downtown, it does not get the exemption.
“So the location isn’t rural, but the people we are feeding live in rural areas and still need the meals,” Goodwin said.
Twenty-three Redwood Empire Food Bank locations across Sonoma County will open on June 10 when the program begins. The meals are supported by Santa Rosa City Schools and will be provided until Aug. 9.
Library enrichment, alongside lunch
During the pandemic, there were 40 sites across the county offering free lunch to students. The tightened regulations caused 20 sites to immediately close, and another five closed throughout the summer as participation declined.
With the requirements for students to sit and eat during the lunch time frame, donation sites that have summer programs or daily activities are more likely to have steady participation, Goodwin said.
“Some families, it’s part of their enrichment,” Goodwin said. “For other families it’s a part of their lifeline to access learning opportunities and getting fed.”
Six Sonoma County libraries will have active lunch donation sites this summer. Most sites have activities five days a week — some hourly, some lasting all day.
“A family might come at 11 a.m. to enjoy the library, find some books for themselves, hangout in an air-conditioned, safe place,” said Rachel Icaza, the county library’s education initiatives librarian. “They can enjoy the lunch from noon to 12:30 p.m., and after lunch there might be the marionette show, the veggie tasting, or some other activities going on … you can choose to visit and leave at your own pace.”
Participating libraries include: Central Santa Rosa Library, Cloverdale Regional Library, Petaluma Library, Rohnert Park-Cotati Library, Sebastopol Regional Library and the Sonoma Valley Regional Library.
Last summer, there were an average of 25-30 children accessing lunch each weekday across seven libraries.
“They’re often the same kids coming every day,” Icaza said.
Most kids come specifically for the lunch and stay for the programming, she added.
Youth eight years and older may attend events or eat lunch without parent supervision, if there are barriers for families to take their children to the library. Icaza said younger children are often accompanied by older siblings.
“We definitely want to reach as many families as they can who are there to enjoy the space, learn about summer reading and can enjoy a meal while they’re at it,” Icaza said.
A new interactive exhibit
A recent partnership with the county libraries, the food bank and the Sonoma County Children’s Museum will add a new lunch location site at Coddingtown Mall, when a traveling exhibit makes its way to Santa Rosa.
Starting on June 12, “Potter the Otter: A Healthy Adventure,” will fill the storefront where Hallmark store once stood.
Created by the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, the exhibit is geared to educate children five years old and younger on the importance of healthy eating, drinking water and staying active.
The Sonoma County Children’s Museum has had its eye on bringing the exhibit to Santa Rosa, said Director of Operations Solina Larum, but there wasn’t enough space in their museum to house the exhibit.
The museum then reached out to Coddingtown Mall to see if they could house the exhibit as a pop-up in any empty storefronts. The mall agreed, and said the museum would only have to pay the utilities.
Next, Larum met with community partners to find ways to offer the exhibit at a low cost to Sonoma County families.
Conveniently, Sonoma County Libraries secured a state grant earlier this year that could front $50,000 to fund the utility costs and other programming needs.
The grant would also allow the exhibit to be free if the two organizations found a way to offer free lunches, replacing an existing donation site at the Northwest Santa Rosa Library that was closing due to low attendance.
“ (The library) realized that it was really not ideal for serving food for families,” Larum said. “They were under the impression that they were not going to be able to serve families in that area and it would become a bit of a food desert.”
And all at once, the three partners realized they could move the free lunch donation site into the mall, supported by the state grant funding.
“It really was serendipitous,” Larum said.
The exhibit will open to the public on June 12 and will remain until Aug. 9, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., free to the public.
“I’m hoping this will be a huge success and that we will be able to feed many families and educate them too,” Larum said. “It’s really a win, win, win for everybody involved.”
Report For America corps member Adriana Gutierrez covers education and child welfare issues for The Press Democrat. You can reach her at Adriana.Gutierrez@pressdemocrat.com.
