Summer Lunch in Libraries ? YES, it can be done! As told by Cat Burton of the Alameda County Community Food Bank and Carmela Chase of the City of Oakland A tale of unusual partnerships

Our partnership prior to the Library pilot project  The Food Bank  Provided banners and flyers  Offered its helpline to list sites  City of Oakland  Sponsored the summer lunch program  Our combined efforts  Recruit new sites  Generate media attention  Coordinate outreach to schools

Libraries: a pipe dream that went viral  Food Bank volunteer suggested a nearby Library as a site  Food Bank and the City of Oakland approached the Library about the idea  We started with 1 Library for two weeks  By the end of the summer we were in 5 libraries and provided 3,500 meals to children

How Our Model Works Free Lunch for Kids! Library provides the space Food Bank provides volunteers City of Oakland provides food

Challenges we had  For the Food Bank  Managing and coordinating the huge response from our volunteer pool  Training people  For the City of Oakland  Convincing the Library that they wouldn’t be burdened with extra work  Refrigeration!  Accommodating Library open times with our delivery schedule

This year’s project: Scaling UP!  Double the number of participating Libraries from 5 to 10  Implement an “adopt-a-site” model with Food Bank volunteer groups  Use volunteers for outreach through classroom visits and putting up doorhangers in nearby neighborhoods  Vendors provide refrigeration

Our contact information  Cat Burton  ext. 307   Carmela Chase  