Hot lunch program gets a hand to carry on

BARRHEAD - A generous donation from a local business will go a long way to ensure Barrhead and District Family Support Services (FCSS) hot lunch program will be able to continue next school year.

Late last month, the Jay and Katelyn Paull family, through their companies J's Tubgrinding and Thunder Lake Ranches, donated $10,000 to the program.

FCSS executive director Karen Gariepy said donations like the one from the Paull family have always been instrumental in keeping the program alive.

The program provides affordable hot lunches to Barrhead Elementary School students. It began close to 20 years ago when an FCSS worker visited the school and noticed several students without lunches.

At first, FCSS sent food to the school from the food bank but eventually transitioned to having local businesses prepare the lunches and then to where it is now, where long-time hot lunch coordinator Sandy McCarthy prepares the meals on-site.

"FCSS is ever grateful for any donation going to the hot lunch program," she said. "The cost of food has gone up drastically, so we are potentially short of funds to be able to run the school lunch program for the upcoming school year. Any donation that helps us overcome that increase is very beneficial."

Gariepy said FCSS is looking at all their options that would allow the program to be secure next year, including increasing the nominal $3 a meal fee.

It is worth mentioning that FCSS also has a program where they subsidize in whole or in part the fee for students who cannot afford the $3 meal rate.

"We don't want people to be forced to step away from the program, but there are decisions to be made if we don't find additional funding," she said.

Katelyn Paull, who co-owns Tubgrinding and Thunder Lake Ranches with husband Jay, said it was their children's (AJ, Rhaylee and Aspen) idea to donate to the program.

"We were explaining what the hot lunch program is, and they right away wanted to do chores and have them pay them so they could donate," Paull said, adding they agreed immediately.

However, she added the chores they could do were limited, as their oldest child, AJ, is six years old and the youngest Aspen, is only two.

"So Jay and I decided to make a $10,000 donation on their behalf," she said. "We also threw down a challenge asking other ranches and businesses to match or beat our donation."

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com