New Haven Independent

The program, called Summer Suppers, is aimed at low-income teens from 12 to 15 years old — kids who are on their own a lot in the summer and no longer able to get free or reduced price breakfast and lunch at school. That puts a strain on family budgets. But their growing bodies have great nutritional needs, so the food bank hired caterers to prepare 100 suppers daily that meet federal Department of Education guidelines for balanced meals. They set tables for eight at the Elks Club at the corner of Webster Street and Dixwell Avenue.

At the start of Monday’s program, Food bank Programs Director Kate Walton (pictured) taped the calendar of events outside the door.

Last week they had to take most of the meals to a local soup kitchen because not many kids showed up.

“I think the biggest thing is that it’s a new venture and people in the community need to become convinced that this is a place where consistently, Monday through Thursday, there will be food provided to children,” said Nancy Carrington, the longtime executive director of the food bank.

From 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., CitySeed staffers provide activities like taste-testing healthful snacks (such as those pictured below) and letting kids draw their favorite healthy foods (such as the watermelon pictured in this boy’s drawing). The artist declined to give his name but said this was his third visit to the program, and he liked the activities. “I stay out of trouble” by coming to the Elks Club, he said. Carrington noted that organizers have been flexible in letting both children younger than 12 and sometimes their parents share in the meals.

CitySeed program director Becky Elias said one popular activity was having the kids lie on the floor and trace their bodies onto paper, “and then start drawing into the outline all the different foods they’ve tasted, so they can start putting together this concept that they are what they eat and that they can think about the things they’re getting to eat each day.” The program’s interns met with a nutritionist to review concepts they wanted to get across in terms of healthy eating and came up with an activity set.

Shortly before the 4:30 p.m. start time for supper, word came to food bank staffer Deborah Davis (pictured, with Carrington to the right in the background) that about 40 participants from the nearby Dixwell Kids Discovery Program were on their way over. The program serves second-through-eighth graders at the Dixwell-Yale University Community Learning Center from 2-6 p.m., after they finish whatever other summer activities they’re involved in.

Davis welcomed everyone, and said with such busy schedules, “It’s neat to just have this one little hour where you know you’re going to have dinner, and it’s a nutritionally balanced dinner. When you look at the proportions on your plate, that’s the amount of food we’re supposed to be consuming. And on your plate you’ll see food that represents all the food groups.”

The menu Monday featured a turkey meatball sub on a whole wheat roll, a salad with lettuce, tomato and cucumber (and Italian dressing), watermelon chunks, peach pudding with peach slices on top, and 2 percent milk, a container of juice, and a bottle of water.

The diners didn’t exactly devour their food; one complaint was that the subs were cold. But different kids favored different components of the meal, and quite a few liked the salad. (One girl said she was taking hers home, because she liked only French dressing.)

Carrington said that starting next week, hot meals will be served.

Jeffie Frazier, the former principal of Helene Grant School (now Wexler Grant), is the program director of the discovery program. She said she’s already been working with her charges to learn about the food pyramid and healthy food choices. Asked if these kids would go hungry if they didn’t eat a Summer Supper, she said a few would, but mostly, “They would have enough food, but a lot of it would be junk food, like pop, chips, candy bars.”

No junk food was in evidence on Monday. The kids all survived without it. Frazier said she’ll bring her campers over every day for supper. Carrington was delighted to see them, but also hopes more youngsters from the neighborhood will start coming on their own.

The program runs through Aug. 27.