Lulu the Lunch Wagon, the van that serves meals throughout the summer. (Courtesy photo)
For the past several years, Healthy Lincoln County staff and volunteers have served thousands of meals to children in Lincoln County. Officially known as the Summer Food Service Program, Summer Meals is a federally-funded, state-administered program that provides meals when school is not in session. In Lincoln and Knox counties, HLC is the program operator. In the summer of 2021 for example, HLC provided over 25,000 meals to children from Boothbay to Camden.
Outside of physical sites and summer camps, HLC also delivers meals to specific neighborhoods in Wiscasset, Damariscotta, and Waldoboro. Our colorful van, known as Lulu the Lunch Wagon, pulls into a central point and parks. Volunteers and staff then deliver meals to children. As you can imagine, the logistics of this program are complex. This season, we are looking for volunteers to help assist on these mobile routes.
Volunteers help distribute meals and interact directly with children and families. They also help load the van and ride along for the duration of each mobile route. Ideal volunteer candidates are people who are comfortable interacting with children, are able to lift up to 20 pounds, and can help coordinate activities at each stop. Friendly, flexible people are always welcome to apply to volunteer.
If you live near Wiscasset or Damariscotta (or are willing to drive to Damariscotta), we would love to place you on our Wiscasset-area mobile route. We are also looking for another one or two volunteers in Waldoboro. All prospective volunteers should email lemmons@healthylincolncounty.org or call 622-7566, Ext. 236.
All volunteers will be screened and trained prior to the start of the season. The time commitment varies, as volunteers can cover multiple shifts or just one. Summer Meals will begin in late June and runs for two months. At the present, we anticipate our Wiscasset route running Tuesday and Thursday, while our Waldoboro route will run each Monday and Wednesday. At a minimum, each shift will take several hours.
Individuals who wish to donate snack items may also contact me directly. Beyond getting complete meals, children along the route also receive healthy snacks. Granola bars, fruit snacks, and small bags of pretzels can all be donated now. A stockpile of these items will enable us to spend our snack budget of fresh apples and oranges.
Summer Meals has been a highly successful program (one of the largest in Maine) due to the support of the community and a small group of capable volunteers. Join our team this summer and help feed children in your community.
