Gifts From the Heart food bank in collaboration with the Coupeville Boys and Girls Club will be unveiling a new free meal program for children this summer.

Kids Cafe will operate Monday through Friday this summer at the old fire house on North Main Street. With the exception of Wednesday, lunch will be served at Coupeville Town Park.

Breakfast will be served 8-8:30 a.m. and lunches will be 12-1 p.m.

All meals will be pre-packaged, USDA- approved individual servings, said Molly Hughes, food bank president.

Meals will include bagels and cream cheese, “uncrustables,” fruits and veggies, milk, etc.

Participants don’t have to be a member of either organization. The only stipulations are participants must be under 18 years old and meals must be eaten on site, Hughes said.

“No application or proof of income is needed,” she said. “All youth are welcome to participate.”

The program is part of Food Lifeline’s Kids Cafe program, which also serves meals in South Whidbey and at Oak Harbor’s Spin Cafe.

Hughes said she’s been aware of the program for quite some time but didn’t think Gifts From the Heart qualified for funding because it wasn’t part of Food Lifeline, but then the program contacted her.

“It’s just unbelievable to me,” Hughes said. “This program isn’t going to cost us anything.”

With such a tight timeframe, Hughes has already secured additional refrigerator storage space.

The only thing Hughes said she’ll need is a brand new crop of volunteers — and she has about six weeks to find them.

“It’s really huge,” Hughes said. “You’re feeding kids in our community, but it isn’t a huge time commitment, but it is a commitment.”

Volunteers would be needed for about an hour each weekday morning and for about an hour and half at lunch time.

Children who are already part of the Boys and Girls Club will benefit from the program. Hughes said Food Lifeline will allow them to adjust amounts each week depending on how much response is gained.

“We want to see how many kids we are serving,” Hughes said. “We don’t want to waste food. We’ll start with a lower number and then increase it as needed.”

How can you Help?

The food bank doesn’t need money, but they do need volunteers. They will need a new group of volunteers to manage the meal program this summer. Meal times are short and jobs will involve setup, serving the meals, cleanup and reporting. They will need two people per meal. Can you volunteer for a week? Can you volunteer one day a week?  Can your service group or church volunteer for a week? Organizers will put together a volunteer schedule based around your availability and there will be a short training class before it begins.  To volunteer or for more information, call Molly Hughes at 360-678-8312 by May 26.