Foster checks out summer lunch program in Elgin

Congressman Bill Foster found himself in an unlikely debate Thursday afternoon at the Eastside Recreation Center in Elgin.

The Batavia Democrat, who spent lunchtime observing one of the city's free summer lunch program sites, tried to tell 6-year-old Arella Padal how nutritious the carrots in her meal were, that they'd help her to see and grow.

"But I don't like carrots," Arella insisted. "I just don't like them."

With federal child nutrition programs up for reauthorization in September, Foster was invited to the center to see firsthand the need for funding, Northern Illinois Food Bank Public Policy and Advocacy Specialist Chris Strupp said.

The Eastside Recreation Center is one of 13 open sites across the city serving breakfast and lunch to needy kids from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.

While the summer meal program has been in operation for years, the ability to open more sites - with meals available to kids not just enrolled in various summer camps or activities - is new in Elgin this year.

The Northern Illinois Food Bank funds about 80 percent of the summer meal program, but the city, with the help of the Salvation Army and churches, have helped provide facilities and cover the rest of the costs.

Andrea Lutz, the food bank's youth nutrition manager, said about 450 lunches are served each day in Elgin, a total of more than 9,000 so far this summer.

"At the beginning of the summer, we literally sat around the table with a map of Elgin. This has really opened up the program to the community," she said.

The open sites in Elgin have prodded other communities to try the same thing, Lutz said.

Open programs in Carpentersville and Zion have been "extremely successful," she said.

Foster noted that federal meal programs - showing children the importance of healthy eating at a young age - will save the country money in health care costs over the long run.

"I"m an advocate to strengthen this and fund this," he said. "You don't get your money back right away, but in 20 years or 40 years this will pay for itself."