‘Needed now more than ever.’ Boys and Girls Clubs feed hundreds of Columbus kids in COVID-19
Five children, three on foot and two on bikes, rushed to greet the vehicle as it parked for its first stop Wednesday afternoon at a Columbus public housing complex.
No, it wasn’t an ice cream truck, but the kids at Farley Homes seemed just as grateful.
It was a bus from the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Chattahoochee Valley, helping to deliver 300 bags of free meals and snacks Mondays through Thursdays to local youth whose food insecurity is inflamed while the clubs are closed because of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic.
“We’re needed now more than ever,” Antonio Pace, the Teen Center unit director, told the Ledger-Enquirer.
The BGCCV serves about 2,500 children annually, with an average of 800 attending daily. Approximately 90% of those children are considered economically disadvantaged, with 60% from a single-parent home, according to Rodney Close, president and CEO of the clubs.
Hundreds of Columbus kids rely on their club to feed them after school. Despite those buildings being closed, the BGCCV is trying to continue that service as much as possible.
Close and Pace, along with Fox Elementary School unit director Percy Armour and East Columbus unit director Ronnie Bell, were the crew Wednesday on this bus, one of two the BGCCV runs to plug the gap left from the free breakfasts and lunches local school districts provide at alternative locations while schools are closed.
The positive impact is clear on the faces of the recipients, Close said.
“They know there’s a caring person, not just during the school day but also in times of need,” he said. “The smiles you see really gives them that ray of hope that things are going to be OK.”
Close declined to specify the project’s cost and funding, but praised the partners that make it possible: Feeding the Valley, the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley and the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley, as well as individual donors.
“Columbus is a community that really comes together that helps those in need, and we’re just proud to be a part of it,” he said.
Close also credits the BGCCV’s 12 full-time staff members who rotate during the week to make these deliveries, volunteering their time and risking their health despite wearing masks and gloves.
“The true character of an individual is what happens when things are very tough and hard,” he said. “I already had a great appreciation for our team members. But in the wake of this storm here, it’s a different outlook. And so, for me, it just fills my heart with joy.”
Here’s what filled the bags Wednesday:
Chips and juice as the snack, and a ham sandwich, cheese stick, raisins and cookies as the meal. Nectarines also were offered — as were squirts of hand sanitizer.
Seeing some of the children from his club, Armour said, boosts his spirit.
“They help you stay young,” he told the L-E. “They miss us as much as we miss them. A lot of parents are thankful for what we’re doing.”
Just ask Rita Locke.
She takes care of 12 grandchildren, ages 6 months to 13 years, in her home on Seventh Street in southeast Columbus.
Although all the other bus stops for this project are at apartment complexes, Locke saw it mentioned on Facebook, and the BGCCV honored her request for deliveries to her door.
“When you’re dealing with a lot of grandkids like I do,” she said Wednesday, “it means a whole lot.”
It’s even better than an ice cream truck visiting, Locke said, because “it’s free.”
And the impact is invaluable beyond helping to feed her grandchildren, she indicated, as she explained the lesson it shows them: “We’re sticking together through this crisis.”
HOW TO HELP
To donate to this effort, call the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Chattahoochee Valley at 706-596-9330.
