Late in the Spring Kitchen Sage learned something critically important.  For the hundreds of kids in the neighborhoods north of I96 who rely on school-based food programs for their daily breakfast and lunch, nothing was going to be offered during the summer months.   There was a workable solution though through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), but a local partner was needed. Chef Karen and her team at Kitchen Sage were ready to respond to this need.

The program is called “Meet Up & Eat Up”, and was created to ensure that children in lower-income areas could continue to receive nutritious meals during long school vacations, when they do not have access to the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Programs.  All that is needed is a community partner, so Kitchen Sage became a Meet Up & Eat Up site.

Chef Karen Chaffee and her team- Watana and Nelson- made sure that there were kid-friendly, nutritious foods to eat every day for breakfast and lunch.  On average there were about 20 children and youth who came to Kitchen Sage on a daily basis. While not as many as originally anticipated, this service was available for those who wanted to take advantage of it.

During the school year Kitchen Sage prepares breakfast, lunch and a snack for nearly 400 preschoolers on a daily basis.  Most of these children come from low-income families and so providing these meals allows the children to focus on learning rather than on being hungry.   While Chef Karen and her team do manage to keep up with the daily workload, some volunteer help would be appreciated. Especially now that the Kitchen Sage culinary training is about to begin, there are students who are in that training that may need some additional one-on-one coaching, which is also an ideal opportunity for a volunteer.    Check out the Steepletown website to learn how you can be part of the team at Kitchen Sage, or call Chef Karen at 649-3437.