Community gathers to bring free lunch to Melba’s kids

Jordan Erb; Kuna Melba News/Idaho Press

Every weekday at noon, a group of volunteers assembles under an awning in Melba’s City Park. Some days they come bearing crock pots full of macaroni and cheese; other days, they wield tubs of corn dogs or come armed with enough sandwiches to feed the rush of kids that will soon arrive.

The team of volunteers is stepping up to the plate after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s summer lunch program, which serves free meals to kids during the summer, was removed from Melba after 2017. The USDA’s Summer Food Service Program can operate through a number of different veins, including schools or non-profit organizations. In Melba’s case, the school district used to sponsor the program, but eventually handed it over to the Caldwell-based Oasis Worship and Food Center.

According to volunteer Teresa Fugge, the program’s Melba location was dissolved because too few kids were attending each day. A representative of Oasis, who did not wish to be identified for the story, confirmed that the organization left due to low participation numbers.

Typically, the volunteers said, they have an average of 35 kids but can often serve as many as 50. Until the volunteers started their free lunch program, the closest location for free lunch was 13 miles away at Kuna’s Ross Elementary School, as shown by a site tracker on the USDA website.

They also noted that the program is especially important for low-income kids and families, because for at least five days of the week, it can provide a relief from wondering where lunch will come from.

“We have a big migrant population, so we have a lot of low-income families,” Fugge said. “I work at the school, and most of our kids get free or reduced lunch. We know that even during the school year, that is what they rely on to get the nutrition they need. Coming out in the summertime and knowing that the state’s not going to help, then those kids are going to go without if someone else isn’t serving them.”

At the end of the 2019 school year, about 852 students were enrolled in the Melba School District. Of those, about 45% were eligible for free or reduced lunch, a service that provides low-income children with food — but only during the school year.

“When I heard that little kids were going without lunch, it kind of broke my heart,” said Inis Fox, one of the volunteers. “I was like, ‘We’ve got to do something.’”

So they did. The volunteers gathered through a Facebook post, and by the week of June 17, had the program, which will last until Aug. 9, up and running.

Russel Gant, owner of Buck’s Saloon and Steakhouse, saw the Facebook post and he knew he wanted to help out. Gant, who lives in Las Vegas, told the volunteers that if they could find people to work the program, he would provide as much food as they needed.

Since then, Gant has been providing sandwich fixings, fruit, vegetables and chips for lunch three days of the week. For the other two days, the volunteers have been providing hot meals, paid for either by donations or their own funds.

“I just volunteered to provide whatever they need,” Gant said. “As long as they’ve got people that can put the thing together and get it to the kids, I’d be more than happy to buy all the products.”

Gant said he wanted to give back to the community and figured since he couldn’t be there in person, donating food would be the best option.

“I just want to make sure the kids are getting something to eat and it’s being taken care of,” Gant said.