By Mike Christopherson (Crookston Daily Times)
Posted Aug 30, 2018 at 11:08 AM
Tri-Valley program wrapped up Aug. 24 at Community Family Service Center
Between the Summer Food Service Program coordinated by the Crookston School District, which wrapped up Aug. 9, and a similar program put on by Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, which concluded on Aug. 24, almost 9,000 free lunches were served to local youth up to age 18 this summer.
The school district’s program operated at serving sites in Highland Park and Wildwood Park, Mondays through Thursdays, while Tri-Valley’s program was headquartered at the Community Family Service Center/Head Start building, formerly Carman School, and served Monday through Friday.
Jami Lee, child nutrition services manager at Tri-Valley, tells the Times that 4,108 youth meals were served at the CFSC. She hadn’t calculated the number of adult meals served. The 2018 number marks an increase of around 500 meals served by Tri-Valley in the summer of 2017, Lee noted.
The Tri-Valley program implemented the “Farm to Early Care” initiative, she added, meaning that kids had fresh, local produce included in their meals.
“I am a firm believer that working together in the community to outreach and let everyone know of each other’s programs, we can make an impact on the community and reach out to those in need that may not know what services are available to them,” Lee said.