MUST Ministries will offer more than 7,500 sack lunches during the week to children in need in Cobb County and other nearby regions.
According to the Marietta Daily Journal, last year MUST’s summer lunch program gave out more than 303,000 lunches prepared by more than 12,000 volunteers.
“MUST began handing out lunches the day after Memorial Day and will continue to do so until the areas they serve are all back at school. The lunches are delivered to the areas where there is the greatest need — areas that are identified by MUST by talking to school counselors,” the article reads. “For some of these kids, it’s the only meal they’ll get all day … 64 percent of students in Marietta City Schools and 44 percent of students in Cobb schools are on free or reduced lunch programs.”
MUST serves seven different counties and in those counties, more than 230,000 students receive free or reduced price lunches. Each day features a different array of food, but typically there’s some sort of sandwich, a snack and juice.
“Now in its 21st year, the summer lunch program celebrated giving out its two millionth lunch in 2015,” the article reads. “MUST is always looking for donations to help fill the thousands of brown paper bags it will hand out this summer. Juice boxes, individually wrapped and unopened cheese slices, fruit cups, zip-close sandwich bags, peanut butter, jelly, individually packaged snacks and unopened lunch meat — turkey, ham and bologna — are all needed to help the program succeed.”
Volunteers are also needed to check and pack lunches and drive and distribute the meals to children. Every Friday, MUST hands out a book to go along with the free lunch, according to the article.
For more information on the program, including how to volunteer or donate, visit mustministries.org/summer-lunch.