Summer Lunch Program Serves 775 Meals | Iowa United Methodist Foundation

October 30, 2019

Kids showing off their new backpacks (Pastor Deb Devine/Klemme UMC)

During the summer months, Klemme United Methodist Church offers a program that gives free lunch to any child in Klemme, Iowa. They noticed that for a variety of reasons, some children were going hungry without their regular school lunch so they created the Summer Lunch Program to decrease hunger within the community.

Klemme UMC received one of the Carma Mohler Grants in 2018 from the Iowa United Methodist Foundation to help with buying food items for their program. They also receive support and donations every year from the nearby church, volunteers, and others in town. According to Jean Pringnitz, the director of Summer Lunch Program, it was estimated that they would serve around 580 lunches this summer, but were actually able to serve 775 lunches! They are excited to see the program grow and are thrilled to be able to offer a hot meal four days a week, all summer long.

As numbers continue to grow, they are seeing some of the children become more active in the church, which they count as another success for the program. The program also expanded this year by gifting school supplies and backpacks to 19 children for the upcoming school year.

If you would like to set up a gift to support food ministries, like the Carma Mohler Grants, or to support another kind of ministry, contact us at 515-974-8927 or [email protected]. We would love to talk with you about the ways you can strengthen the missions and ministries you love.