As the year comes to an end, it is time to thank everyone for their support and contributions to the program. The Green Lantern Lunch Program assembled its first lunch in 2015 – over 10,000 lunches were prepared and delivered during that summer. While getting ready for the next summer, we realized the need to provide lunches to the kids on weekends during the school year. In two months, April and May of 2016, over 3,200 weekend lunches were prepared and delivered.
In the summer of 2016, 16,919 lunches were prepared and delivered. The weekend lunch program got into high gear and the GLLP managed to prepare and deliver 15,378 lunches from September through May. In our first full year, we managed to prepare and deliver 32,297 lunches.
In the summer of 2017, 25,064 lunches were prepared and delivered! If we continue to deliver lunches for the weekend lunch program at our current level, we are expecting to deliver over 23,000. In our second year at full speed, we are expecting to prepare and deliver over 48,000 lunches which is a 149% increase over just last year.
The program is entirely funded by donation and we are grateful for the giving that has been supporting us. Foundations have come to our aid, as well as countless donations that come to us via our post office box from people who have read about us on Facebook and other exposures we have been privileged to be involved in. And, not to be forgotten is the amazing donation we got again this year from the Humptulips area, from the dinner and auction put on by Dave Crosby/Humptulips Grocery.
One of our biggest Blessings are the hours of work the volunteers put in to make all of this happen. There is the gathering of the food, the sorting, packing, delivering and storing of the supplies. It takes a village to raise a child: Well, we have a village at work here feeding the children. These people are dedicated and we cannot thank them enough for what they do. This is on a weekly basis, year round. Please feel free to stop by our location and meet and greet these folks and get a first hand look at what they are doing.
This year we have reached out to Coastal Harvest and Food Lifeline to help us fill our shelves. It is coming together slowly, but with wonderful results. This connection is only fitting since we are a licensed Food Bank and are able to access these areas. As the program grows, the need for more supplies increases so we are always on the lookout for places to go to fill our shelves. We also appreciate working with the IGA in Ocean Shores and getting help from them..
Our namesake, The Green Lantern Pub continues to help us in many ways, doing our shopping, transporting the goods, collecting donations, and so on. They are user friendly and always put forth a genuine hand to help whenever needed. Our local grocery store, Copalis Beach Grocery, also supports us with wonderful, weekly donations of fruit and vegetables, as does the Market at Seabrook. We call it “community unity.”
In closing, we would like to again say THANK YOU everyone for everything you are doing to keep the Lantern Lit and the Kids Fit.
Phyllis Shaughnessy/GLLP Board President
