When Cobb County Schools decided to delay opening until Aug. 17, suddenly there were thousands of Summer Lunch children who needed lunch meals. MUST Ministries, who has been distributing summer meals to children for 25 years, is delivering 5-day meal kits to children all summer, but the program was to end July 31.
“Our commitment to those children has to continue,” according to MUST Pres. and CEO Ike Reighard. “It’s not their fault plans changed. They could not go two weeks without food to help sustain them.”
So, MUST stepped up and has been raising money and gathering volunteer and staff support to extend the program. The USDA meals will cease but MUST has partnered with a nutritious packaged food company to provide meals at a cost of $66,000. In addition, the nonprofit is continuing to pay for trucks, fuel, drivers, staff and other expenses.
This is not the first time MUST has come forward to fill a gap. When Seamless Summer ended for Marietta City Schools, MUST gave the school system $25,000 to extend their program, pay their bus drivers and continue to feed kids. The federal program had been providing lunch and breakfast for at-risk Marietta students, delivered by school buses on routes throughout the city.
Money for these programs have come from individuals, businesses and a COVID grant from Cobb County. “MUST is continuing to raise money as we face more and more demand for food. Just since the pandemic began, MUST has distributed 815,832 meals to 93,034 people,” Reighard said. “The numbers are staggering, but the difficult part is knowing more and more people need help as families lose jobs, savings runs out and many face sickness.”
In addition to providing meals and distribution, MUST has placed volunteers at Cobb County lunch programs since mid-March and volunteers at 26 Summer Lunch distribution sites.
MUST Neighborhood Pantries – 39 food pantries embedded in Cobb, Marietta and Cherokee schools with a large number of at-risk children – have been supplying grocery boxes every month. This program alone has served 24,724 people since March 16.
Forbes says 42% of the job losses will be permanent, Reighard explained. “We are bracing ourselves for record long-term food and housing insecurity, but that’s our calling. There is no better time in our history to serve others and that’s why MUST exists, serving with compassion.”
To find out more about volunteering or donating, go to mustministries.org.
