SUNNY – Serving Up Nutrition Now for Youth
Note: We are sad to report that SUNNY is not able to provide services to our Brooklyn community due to the Covid virus pandemic. Here are some links to possible resources to help.
Families can find nearby food distribution sites by downloading the Free Meals for Kids app, calling the Minnesota Food Helpline at 1-888-711-1151, or visiting Hunger Impact Partners at hungerimpactpartners.org. After July 6, families can find sites by texting “food” to 877-877 for information in English or “comida” to 877-877 for information in Spanish. Information is also available by calling the 2-1-1 helpline, or on the USDA’s Summer Meal Site Locator at fns.usda.gov/meals4kids.
Local school districts are committed to providing grab-and-go meals at no cost for all children 18 years of age and under who need them during the school closure. Click the school district below to learn more.
Within the greater Brooklyn communities, thousands of children receive subsidized or free school lunches due to family income levels. During the summer, however, these kids are not at school and thus often don’t get regular, healthy lunches. SUNNY helps to provide these much needed meals. Since our beginning in 2013, we’ve served over 53,000 free meals to our guests. The SUNNY guests pack a bag lunch for two days, the current and the next day. The lunches are not eaten on site, but are brought home to enjoy.
SUNNY leadership thanks all of the volunteers and donors who helped make 2019 a great success, serving over 8000 meals. We look forward to seeing all the smiling faces of everyone soon. Hopefully, sign up for volunteers will start again in 2021. Special help is needed in these areas: Grocery Buyers, Team Leaders, Registration.
Each bag lunch includes:
- One sandwich per person, made up of:
- whole wheat, white bread or tortillas,
- pre-portioned packets of chicken, turkey, beef or ham slices; or
- packets of peanut butter and jelly
- A packet of raw, seasonal vegetables
- A fresh fruit
- A sweet or salty snack
There are many opportunities for service — SUNNY needs at least 9-11 volunteers per day. We welcome volunteers from business and corporate groups, organizations, and families, as well as individuals. Volunteers of all ages have found the experience extremely rewarding. If you would like to sign up individually or as a team, please call the church office at 763-561-1684 or email admin@bumc.org.
2 Corinthians 9:8: God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.
