GREELEY — The Weld Food Bank, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Weld County, will offer daily meals while Greeley and Evans children are on spring break this week.
Jessica Barczewski, agency relations and child programs manager at the food bank, said the two organizations will offer free meals to Boys & Girls Clubs members every day during the break from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Rodarte Community Center, 920 A St. in Greeley.
Schools in Greeley-Evans School District 6 will not be open during the break, which ends Friday, said Theresa Myers, director of communications for District 6, so the meals offer a chance for children who rely on school lunches to eat during the vacation week. About 13,000 students — or 61 percent of the district’s enrollment — regularly receive free and reduced-price lunches during the school year, Myers said.
The working relationship between the Boys & Girls Clubs and the food bank is an important partnership that serves a vital need in the community, said Bob O’Connor, executive director of the food bank.
“If you talk with teachers and administrators, they will tell you school breaks are a very dangerous time for children because not all of them will get something to eat,” O’Connor said. “Spring break is one of those times kids are at the highest risk, and that’s why we’re there.”
O’Connor said the food bank anticipates feeding a couple hundred children in a typical week, which includes spring break.
“In Weld, one in every four children face hunger,” O’Connor said. “That’s a fact of life and just the way it is. With this program, we’re able to provide a basic need to those kids, and the Boys & Girls Clubs does a wonderful job in helping us do so.”
To receive the meals, students must be Boys & Girls Clubs members. However, many students who regularly receive the free and reduced lunches during the school year already are members of the clubs.
Because the food bank sees a spike in need for children when they’re not in school, O’Connor said donations during those times can help offset the increased costs.
“For the child programs, we always need help with financial donations,” he said. “We don’t pare down on meals when we estimate need. We actually (overestimate), so kids can take some food home with them if we have extra. It’s all about the kids.”
Want to help?
To donate money, food or volunteer hours to the Weld Food Bank, visit or call 970-356-2199.
