COMMUNITY PARTNER OF EVERYDAY WELLNESS
Every other week, Monitor staff writes about a feature article exploring wellness in the Capital Region. We’d like to thank our Community Partner Concord Hospital. Our Community Partners do not participate in the selection of these articles. That is fully at the discretion of our journalists.
Eleven-year-old Elliot Prizeo has gotten to eat some of his favorite lunches this summer at Rundlett Middle School’s summer program: “They serve the best hot dogs,” he said.
Another student, Jhosep Morales, doesn’t always bring a snack with him. By lunchtime, he said, “We’re tired and we’re hungry.”
Housed this year at Concord High School due to construction, the program extends learning into the summer while striving for fun at the same time. Before students began their session, however, the question arose of whether or not the school would be able to provide lunch.
Susan Farrelly, the afterschool program director, decided to take matters into her own hands. She reached out to Casey DeStefano at The Friendly Kitchen in Concord for help.
“The first thing she said was ‘I just want you to know, we’re gonna make this happen,'” said Farrelly.
Open since 1980, The Friendly Kitchen serves free meals every day of the week to whoever comes through its doors — no questions asked. Their current home on South Commercial Street, however, can be out of the way for many.
Starting in 2021, there was “lots of conversation around not reaching maybe struggling families, other folks who were food insecure who weren’t able to come here for meals,” said Valerie Guy, executive director of the kitchen.
The resulting Family Friendly Meal Program, run by DeStefano, delivers food to those families by partnering with schools, daycares, and other community programs within Concord.
When DeStefano and Guy learned about the issues facing the summer program, they knew they would step in.
“Obviously we’re not going to let kids not eat,” said Guy. Children, she said, “learn better and retain, you know, what they’re learning, if their tummies are full.”
For the month of July, The Friendly Kitchen provided breakfast and lunch for roughly 60 kids, four days a week.
While Farrelly oversees only the Rundlett Title I program, she made sure that both the Rundlett and Concord High Extended School Year program attendees were also fed with The Friendly Kitchen’s help. Farrelly knows that feeding kids over the summer can be a worry for many parents, and hopes to continue providing free lunch to summer school attendees in upcoming years.
The meals were prepared every Saturday by the kitchen’s team of volunteers, then DeStefano delivered them to Concord High School on Monday mornings to be reheated and prepared throughout the week.
At the end of each week, an inventory of what remained was taken. This allowed for adjustments to the quantity of food while also helping determine which meals the kids preferred. Hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and mac & cheese were among the students’ favorites.
Supplies came from a mix of The Friendly Kitchen’s inventory stock and grocery store runs. DeStefano and Guy had estimated the cost of these meals to be roughly $2,500.
Breakfast and lunch were automatically provided for every student in attendance, which is different from how the schools’ free meal program typically runs throughout the year, with parents needing to fill out paperwork to determine qualifications.
“The people of the Friendly Kitchen are amazing,” said Jay Richard, Rundlett’s principal. “It’s a really good example of community collaboration with public schools and community resources to make a difference for students.”
