Occasionally, it’s nice to leave your own pasture to see what’s going on elsewhere.
Last Wednesday (7/2), I had the chance to check out the greenness of the grass at the Hartford Summer Food Kickoff at Waverly Park. The best part: I got to do it, courtesy of the CT Deptartment of Agriculture, dressed as a cow! Not content to just play the cow, I became the cow.
Let me tell you, this cow was pretty impressed by what can only be described as organized chaos.
Over 150 kids were laughing, playing and having a great time. Between face painting, free books, games and a bunch of other fun activities, you couldn’t find a kid without a smile.
Yes, there were the inevitable “Got Milk?” questions, but what cow hasn’t heard that one before?
Best of all, there was the food. A nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack for every kid who came. The kids happily grazed on hotdogs, burgers, fruit, crackers, milk and juice. (At one point I thought I smelled roast beef….but that was just me, roasting in the sun).
For the parents, a two-for: Foodshare supplied a truckload of bread, onions and potatoes and the DSS Bus was on hand to take food stamps applications.
I’m told that this is only one of 70 sites in Hartford, where kids, 18 and under, can get free meals while school is out. All they have to do is come.
.
Looking out over the park, it’s hard to imagine that without the Summer Food program, a lot of theses kids might not get lunch or even breakfast for that matter. It makes a cow grateful for the hard work of the folks who make this program happen. Unfortunately this cow thinks that there is still a long way to go in eliminating the poverty that makes a program like this one so necessary……and that’s no bull.
PTC
Last Wednesday (7/2), I had the chance to check out the greenness of the grass at the Hartford Summer Food Kickoff at Waverly Park. The best part: I got to do it, courtesy of the CT Deptartment of Agriculture, dressed as a cow! Not content to just play the cow, I became the cow.
Let me tell you, this cow was pretty impressed by what can only be described as organized chaos.
Over 150 kids were laughing, playing and having a great time. Between face painting, free books, games and a bunch of other fun activities, you couldn’t find a kid without a smile.
Yes, there were the inevitable “Got Milk?” questions, but what cow hasn’t heard that one before?
Best of all, there was the food. A nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack for every kid who came. The kids happily grazed on hotdogs, burgers, fruit, crackers, milk and juice. (At one point I thought I smelled roast beef….but that was just me, roasting in the sun).
For the parents, a two-for: Foodshare supplied a truckload of bread, onions and potatoes and the DSS Bus was on hand to take food stamps applications.
I’m told that this is only one of 70 sites in Hartford, where kids, 18 and under, can get free meals while school is out. All they have to do is come.
.
Looking out over the park, it’s hard to imagine that without the Summer Food program, a lot of theses kids might not get lunch or even breakfast for that matter. It makes a cow grateful for the hard work of the folks who make this program happen. Unfortunately this cow thinks that there is still a long way to go in eliminating the poverty that makes a program like this one so necessary……and that’s no bull.
PTC
