There are a few days every summer that Niva Grayson hates. They’re the days the program director at North Mabee Boys & Girls Club has to go to the freezer to check for bread and ham to thaw. If the kids are lucky, there’s mayo.
Some days it’s only two children who don’t have anything for lunch, Grayson said, but on others it’s as many as eight. No one wants bland sandwiches, but it’s all Grayson and the rest of the club’s staff have to offer.
But when Tulsa Public Schools’ Summer Cafe starts each year, Grayson knows she can get everyone at the club fed. It’s why she considers the summer meals program vital.
“Some parents didn’t bring any lunch for their kids in this past week,” she said. “We’ve been scavenging for some donated food in our center, but we don’t even have that much. It really helps that the food bank is there.”
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Grayson brought children from the North Mabee Boys & Girls Club to the Summer Cafe kickoff at Disney Elementary School on Wednesday. Although the children spent time playing hopscotch and checking out Tulsa Fire Department’s Ladder 27 truck, all Grayson cared about was their meal of hot dogs, chips, ice cream and smoothies.
Until Summer Cafe started at North Mabee on Thursday, children at the club depended on donated food if they couldn’t bring their own lunch. Now Summer Cafe offers lunch at the club weekdays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. through Aug. 18.
Not only does Summer Cafe provide meals at some programs like North Mabee, but it’s also an option for parents to get their kids fed outside the house.
Heather Jones, a mother of four from west Tulsa, takes her children to Robertson Elementary School for breakfast and lunch in the summer.
“It’s amazing because we don’t have to prepare as much food at home or have the same cost of food at home with four kids,” Jones said. “I’m so thankful that they do it, because (Robertson Elementary) is right down the street from us.”
Wednesday’s kickoff event was part of a broader strategy to raise awareness about Summer Cafe, which is free, requires no documentation and is available to any child under 18.
Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist spoke at the kickoff event along with State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister. Gist said the federally funded program is part of the district’s approach to summer vacation.
“Learning doesn’t take a vacation in the summer, and we know we need to provide enrichment and academic opportunities for our students in the summer,” Gist said. “But hunger doesn’t take a vacation, either. In order for our children to learn, they need to be well nourished.”
In addition to the 70 Summer Cafe locations around Tulsa, multiple sites will offer free meals to children this summer through similar federally funded programs in the Broken Arrow and Union school districts.
Grayson said she does her best to tell more families about the program, and each year, she said, the lunches can’t come soon enough.
“We’ve literally like five kids that haven’t brought any lunch this summer,” Grayson said. The program “really helps take the burden off of us, because otherwise we’re always trying to figure out, ‘What about the kids who didn’t eat today? What are we going to feed them?’”
