Morgan Perry is thrilled when a library patron wants to check out a book, but she is just as happy to provide a patron with Give Lunch, a nutritional bag of snacks provided through a partnership with Harvesters.
“Being a librarian isn’t just about giving you access to the next big romance novel, although we love those, and we need them. It’s also about giving you access to what you need to live your life,” said Perry, community resources coordinator at the Mid-Continent Public Library’s Grandview branch.
“There’s a national move by libraries toward giving people what they need when they need it in a format that is accessible to them,” said Perry. “We started working with Harvesters years ago on different food insecurity programs…but after COVID-19 we made a decision that we needed a food product for our communities in need that was more versatile, and Give Lunch absolutely fills that bill.”
The brown paper bags contain nonperishable, ready-to-eat items such as applesauce or a fruit cup with pop-top, a shelf-stable protein such as hummus or sun butter or chicken or tuna salad, granola bar, whole-grain crackers, an individually packaged snack item, and water, shelf-stable milk or 100% juice.
The beauty of Give Lunch is that it works for organizations as diverse as T-Mobile or the Girl Scouts. Each bag comes with a sticker indicating which organization packed the bag.
Library patrons are getting not just the nutritional value of the meal, but they are getting this sense of community. That someone sees them, sees what’s going on. That their community cares about them and wants to make sure they are OK, too,” Perry said.
“I know that’s like a really soft thing that is nebulous and hard to put your hands on, but that’s the kind of little thing that can make a huge difference.”
Give Lunch has also become an important tool for library staff to de-escalate tense moments between library patrons struggling with access to basic needs.
“We had a person searching for a job who turned to another patron four feet away. Their loud typing was the last straw. They started yelling. I grabbed a Give Lunch package, and I hustled over to the first person who was yelling — and now the second person was yelling as well — and I just calmly looked at them and said, ‘Could you use a snack?’
“There’s some chocolate milk in here. I would love to talk to you about what’s going on. If we could go sit at a table, maybe you could look at the snack and tell me what you think. They almost deflated right in front of me. It was just a brown paper bag with chocolate milk in it,” she said as tears welled up in her eyes.
About Give Lunch
Harvesters’ Give Lunch program has two components: a food or fund drive followed by a volunteer activity to pack the bags. Food service provider Sysco offers better than retail pricing for any group able to raise $2,000 or more for the effort. Click here to learn more.
