What a great week!  We have served 282 meals in two weeks.  Thank you to all the families who join us.  It’s so great to have a place for the children to also gather and play.  The Paulden Community School has a shaded playground area with trees and it’s a wonderful place for them to get out their energy as well as get some nourishment.  We’re looking forward to next week and possibly some new faces.  Help us to let others know about this program right here in Paulden.   As you know, it’s difficult to get the word out, so please pass the word to those who could benefit from a meal.  We’re so grateful to Paulden School for partnering with us in this service to our community.  There are no income qualifications for this program, no age restrictions, just free meals.  Join us!

Summer Lunch Week 1 2022:  It was so great to see some familiar faces and welcome new faces to the Summer Lunch program this past week.  We just wanted to say how much we enjoy you and your familiies.  The children have had fun playing on the playground while they wait for lunch or after they eat.  Two individual families found us who literally just moved to Paulden last week.  We were so happy to be able to welcome them and give their children opportunities to begin to make new friends and adjust to their new community.  Summer Lunch is so much more than a meal.  It has worked really well for the families to come and eat and then head on over to the Paulden Library for afternoon programs this past week and we are so happy about that.  We look forward to meeting more of you next week. 

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child Nutrition Program established to ensure that low-income children, ages 18 and younger, continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. Free meals, that meet Federal nutrition guidelines, are provided to all children at approved SFSP sites in areas with significant concentrations of low-income children by schools, private non-profits, and local or county governments. The SFSP is administered at the State level by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE).

But here in Paulden, we do one little thing different….

The Children’s Summer Lunch program is sponsored by Chino Valley Unified School District’s Summer Food Service Program. This program provides free lunches for children, the same program that they participate in during the school year. Last year Paulden Foundation initiated a program whereby parents who were accompanied by their children could also receive a free lunch as we saw that there were parents who were in need. This was very successful and nearly doubled program participation and the parents were very appreciative.

We believe this to be a vital grassroots program for Paulden as evidenced by last year’s success and additionally helped to sustain the children’s summer lunch program through increased participation. Raising funds for this program is our primary need at this time. The price of an adult lunch is $3.75. We rely completely on donations from individuals and organizations to sponsor this program. The program runs June 5th until school begins in August, Monday through Friday at Paulden Food Bank, 195 E. Aspen.

Donations for adult lunches can be made via this fundraiser page or can be sent to Paulden Foundation, PO Box 970, Paulden, AZ 86334. As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Paulden Foundation can issue a tax-deductible receipt for your donation.

Can you please help us by passing the word about this program and also consider a donation? We still need to meet our funding goal and appreciate all donations. Thank you in advance for your help!

 

 

Donate $15 dollar to feed 5 parents that bring their kids for lunch