05-02-2025
'Spread the Love' calling for volunteers
Feb. 4—LIMA — Aaron Poling, of Friends of Lima, came to the Lima Municipal Building on Tuesday to offer volunteers to "Spread the Love," a new program to donate meals to children in Lima.
Laurie Camper, public relations director for the program run by Faith Christian Church, said the program would be a small step toward lowering the 20 percent of Lima children who are hungry.
"They don't know where their next meal is coming from," she said. "So we want to provide some nice sack meals for them for after school with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, apple sauce, a drink and a cookie to help fill their tummies."
City councilman Derry Glenn said since the Cheryl Allen Community Center closed down three years ago, the number of hungry children has risen in the city.
"I wish I could take it down to zero every year, but it's a win-win for us to be involved with the church here to help out these kids," he said. "We ask that everyone in our community steps up. We always show our hometown pride and we need to get ready to go out and help one another in this community."
The program could have all the peanut butter and jelly in the world, but Camper said it is still in need of volunteers to make sandwiches and drive vans to deliver the meals to children throughout the sixth ward.
"People need to know that it's a very simple job," she said. "We have a van that's marked as the 'Spread the Love' van. You just need to be an adult driver with a good record and we will do a background check. Even if you're just a single driver, we can pair you with another to go out on delivery day to play music and hand out sandwiches to the kids."
Camper said keeping kids fed, even after school, is important for the learning process.
"No learning happens, no character building happens, nothing happens when they're hungry," she said. "And if they're in school or coming home from school and they're hungry, there are no more lessons they can learn unless they have a full belly. If they're not fed, they can't learn to be good, responsible young men and women who grow into responsible adults."
The program will deliver meals from 4 p.m. to dark starting Friday, Feb. 7 in the sixth ward.
For more information on volunteering or donating, visit
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
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