Karma in Cullman founder Rachel Bryant serves lunch at Carroll Acres Park on Monday, June 4, the first of many “Karma Kid Days” to come this summer. (Heather Mann for The Tribune)
CULLMAN – With the end of the school year comes the end of affordable or free breakfasts and lunches for many students who rely heavily on school-provided meals. Summer can be a tough time for food-insecure families who now have two more meals per day they need to provide for their kids. To help fill that need, local nonprofit Karma in Cullman has brought back its summer feeding program: Karma Kid Days. The program will provide meals for children up to 18 years old and their parents at different locations around the county at noon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through July 27.
The program started when founder Rachel Bryant started Karma, but it grew so large that Karma had trouble financing it. No, however, Karma has partnered with Cullman City Schools to help provide meals for families. “We see a huge increase in our food bank during the summer months because families go from having to feed their kids once a day to having to feed them three times a day,” Bryant explained. “This way, we can try to take a little bit of that off of the parents.”
Bryant said Karma Kid Days aims not only to feed the children, but also to educate them and give them a chance to have fun and be active. “We reached out to a lot of different parks and museums to see if they’d be interested in letting us come and partner with them, and this way we can reach out to children all across Cullman County,” she said. “One day we’ll get to go to Ave Maria Grotto, and the kids will get to eat lunch and tour through there, and for a lot of these families that might be the only time they get to go through there. We’re not just feeding their bodies, we’re feeding their souls and their minds.”
The dates and locations of the Karma Kid Days lunches are as follows:
Wed, June 6 – Sportsman Lake Park Splash Pad
Fri, June 8 – C.W. Day Park (Hanceville)
Mon, June 11 – Heritage Park Splash Pad
Wed, June 13 – Sportsman Lake Park Splash Pad
Fri, June 15 – Holly Pond Ball Park
Mon, June 18 – Crooked Creek Civil War Museum
Wed, June 20 – Sportsman Lake Park Splash Pad
Fri, June 22 – C.W. Day Park (Hanceville)
Mon, June 25 – Heritage Park Splash Pad
Wed, June 27 – Sportsman Lake Park Splash Pad
Fri, June 29 – Cullman Housing Authority
Mon, July 2 – Crooked Creek Civil War Museum
Fri, July 6 – Smith Lake Park Shed #6
Mon, July 9 – Heritage Park Splash Pad
Wed, July 11 – Sportsman Lake Park Splash Pad
Fri, July 13 – Cullman Housing Authority
Mon, July 16 – C.W. Day Park (Hanceville)
Wed, July 18 – Sportsman Lake Park Splash Pad
Fri, July 20 – Ave Maria Grotto
Mon, July 23 – Heritage Park Splash Pad
Wed, July 25 – Sportsman Lake Park Splash Pad
Fri, July 27 – Ag Center Super Hero Day
All meals start at noon on the specified days. Anyone who wants to participate should text or email the date, how many children, and how many adults to 256-735-3942 or karmaincullman@gmail.com. Everyone is welcome.
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