There has been a substantial change in the 10-week free summer feeding program at Olive Branch Baptist Church on Juniper Avenue that will be sustained by volunteers from 12 local groups.
Rather than the cold sandwiches and other cold foods supplied by the North Carolina Food Bank in Raleigh, coordinator Joy Schillingsburg announced Tuesday there will be hot meals supplied by Elisha Muhammad of the Ar-Razzaq Islamic Center in Durham.
The meals will be served to teens and children 18 and under from Monday, June 12, through Friday, Aug. 18. Organizers anticipate serving 80 youngsters who do not have to do anything but show up to be fed. The program is supported and organized through Wake County Social Services using federal funds. In a second meal program in Wake Forest at the Northern Wake Regional Center on East Holding Avenue, lunches will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Tuesday and Thursday from June 20 to Aug. 10.
Schillingsburg said Muhammad “is a long time sponsor of this program and will support 60 sites across the state this summer from the commercial grade kitchen at the center. She hires local men and women in Durham to prepare and deliver homemade and nutritious food to kids in the program across the state. This partnership fits our needs much better than the Food Bank and the kids will love the menu!”
She also said they need volunteers for the mid-day meals on Wednesday and Thursday. If you want to help with the Wake County Summer Nutrition Program Olive Branch, you can call Schillingsburg at 919-229-9015 or email her at joyshill@yahoo.com.
She also announced there will be a meeting Thursday, June 8, at 2 p.m. at Olive Branch to tell the leaders from each of the local groups about the changes in procedures for the meals. The breakfast time will change to 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. with food that is shelf stable and delivered the night before. Also, since the hot dinner meals will be delivered between 4:30 and 4:45 p.m., the volunteers will have to arrive at the church at 4:30.
The change requires background checks for all volunteers. “We know that this is an extra and unexpected step, but it is for the safety of the kids and Elisha will work with us to get the process going. I will research more information on how this works in Wake County and be more prepared to speak about this on Thursday.”
During the Thursday meeting the group leaders will be trained on how the volunteers will sign in for each meal, how the food is to be set up and distributed and how to clean up after meals. “Elisha has done this for a long time, she has the steps and procedures down, we just need to listen and be ready to share this straight forward process with our teams.”
There will be a lot of support for the volunteers. Schillingsburg said Olive Branch “Pastor [Damen] Rawlinson or I will be at every meal the first week and for much of the second week so that if you or one of your members cannot attend this training, we will lead you.”
The 12 groups providing volunteers are:
*Hope Lutheran Church
*Olive Branch Baptist Church
*St. John’s Episcopal Church
*Wake Forest Baptist Church
*Wake Forest Christian Church
*Wake Forest United Methodist Church
*Wake Forest Kiwanis Club
*Wake Forest Lions Club
*Wake Forest Optimist Club
*Wake Forest Rotary Club
*Wake Forest Woman’s Club
*Wake Forest Police Department Officers will not serve meals but will interact with the teens and children during the meal hours.
