MOSES LAKE — The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin will begin offering breakfast and lunch to local children today through the Summer Meal Program.

The meals are free and no registration is required; anyone under 18 who shows up is welcome, said Monica Mechum, child nutrition coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club. The meals will continue through Aug. 9.

Meals will be distributed at three locations: The McGraw Clubhouse next to Park Orchard Elementary School, North Elementary School and McCosh Park. The McGraw Clubhouse and North will serve breakfast and lunch; only lunch will be served at McCosh Park 

“At North and McGraw, the two meals, breakfast and lunch, they have to sit and eat before they can leave,” Mechum said. “For McCosh … it’s a grab-and-go system. So they can just take a sandwich and leave.”

The meals are served for a limited time every day – half an hour for each meal at McGraw and North, a full hour at McCosh Park – and under program rules, meals can’t be served outside that time window.

Mechum and another associate make all the sandwiches by hand, she said. Last year the club served about 120-150 lunches and about 70 breakfasts a day. However, Mechum said, there were other programs that also provided summer meals that are not doing it this year, so she expects the numbers to be higher.

“The earlier (children arrive) the better for the first week or so so we can get numbers and consistency,” she said. “If we have parents and kids that come daily, we take tallies so we know what’s coming the next day. We can plan and not run out.” 

Volunteers to help make the sandwiches would be welcome, she added, as long as they have a food handler’s card.

Anyone needing more information or wanting to volunteer can call Mechum at 509-764-9694.

Where and when:

McGraw Clubhouse
425 N. Paxson Drive
Breakfast 9-9:30 a.m.
Lunch 12:30-1 p.m.

North Elementary School
1200 W. Craig St.
Breakfast 9-9:30 a.m.
Lunch 12:30-1 p.m.

McCosh Park
401 W. Fourth Avenue
Lunch 12-1 p.m.