Program offers kids more than just free lunch

Rhonda Bailey says she can barely get her two young children dressed in the morning before they tear out the front door and into the makeshift picnic area set up along Oxford Drive in the Fox View Apartment complex in Carpentersville.

There, neighborhood children, including Bailey's 6-year-old son Tristan Henderson and 3-year-old daughter D'Cari Seaverson, come to play games like hopscotch and double-dutch or to meet with their friends from school.

In addition to the social time, dozens of school-age children from Fox View receive a free lunch each weekday as part of a program sponsored by the Northern Illinois Food Bank and Faithwalk Harvest Center in Carpentersville.

"They enjoy themselves out here and get lunch every day," Bailey said. "They wake up in the morning and they look forward to coming out here."

Dexter Ball, pastor and founder of Faithwalk, said the free summer lunch program provides children with a nutritious meal and a stable environment. The programs runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday until Aug. 13.

"Some families are struggling and kids need food," Ball said. "We don't want any child to go hungry and we know, at least while we are here, that the kids are getting a good meal."

On this day, more than 100 children enjoyed a BLT sandwich, flavored milk and a slice of watermelon.

Cristina Thompson, 16, said without the lunch program, some of her friends might go hungry.

"It is real important because it is helping feed kids that don't have food at home," said Cristina, who was volunteering and also received a meal.

The Northern Illinois Food Bank provides the meals as part of its Youth Nutrition Program and the federal Summer Food Service Program. It is also sponsoring summer lunch programs at three other Carpentersville locations: Iglesia Rebano, the Salvation Army and the Fox Valley Baptist Church.

At Fox View, the program is also creating a sense of pride for the community that has historically suffered from a reputation for gang violence and drug activity.

Jeanette Buerger, property manager for Fox View, said the community has improved under new management.

"We are working with the community to do more with the kids," Buerger said. "They are what is important and we are trying to give them some stability and a safe place to be raised; to teach them to do the right thing."