Green Lantern Lunch Program

5/29/19: We apologize for the lack of updates we have posted here. But please know we are still very much out there every day working very hard on our program. The kids in our area are out of school for the summer in about a month and we are gearing up to begin delivering meals the day they get out on June 21st. Our numbers from last year ended up at 620 lunches delivered three days a week (1,860 a week). We expect those numbers to do nothing but increase. We can't continue to support these growing numbers without your help. We are so grateful for your support these last four years, and ask you to continue to help. Tax deductible donations can be sent to the programs PO Box 443, Copalis Beach, WA 98535 or on our Go Fund Me on our page. Anyone wanting more information can message us and we are happy to help. In addition to your support financially, we need volunteers to pack and deliver. If you live in the area please pick a part that suits you and contact us. We want the kids to keep fit by being fed. Thanks you so much, Phyllis and crew

9/2/17: Our summer 2017 lunch program has just eneded and we delivered 25,064 this summer along (35,184 YTD). Our program has grown 143% since last year, and a whopping 250% since it all started in 2015! We are seeing there is definitely a high demand for this program and we are working our hardest to keep up with it. Since the program has started, just two years ago, Green Lantern Lunches has delivered 65,365 lunches. Our summer program is now over for the year, and we will take a week off to recoup and build up our supplies for the weekend backpack program. We will continue to work hard to keep our lantern lit, and the kids fit! Thank you so much for your continued support. We could not do it without you!

6/24/17: Week one done! We delivered a whopping 1,879 lunches in our first week and are numbers are growing more each day! Last year in our first week we only did just over 1,000 lunch. This is a program that is needed in rural areas. These children need proper nutrition ALL YEAR LONG and without this program we are unsure where they would get the extra food. Thank you for your continued support. The children are so happy when they see us coming down the drive way. Their smiles and excitement to open the lunch bag makes our hearts burst with joy.

1/10: Happy New Year Everyone! As we begin our third year of delivering lunches, we want to thank everyone for your continuing support of the program. We are finding that the food supplies we are taking to families are much appreciated and looked forward to each week. It enables them to not have to make a choice between buying bread or milk. The kids can have both!! One of our goals for the coming year is assessing the needs in the area and doing more deliveries where needed. We also want to work on getting more donations of fresh produce and fruit. We would also like to see donations of hygiene items we could distribute as needed. In many households, food is not the only item that is insecure. So, again, Blessings to all who make this possible, your help is greatly appreciated.
-Green Lantern Lunches

11/19: The Green Lantern Lunch Program was honored to have King 5 News create another wonderful segment on our expanding program. You can watch the segment here. Thank you for your continued support!!!

http://www.king5.com/news/local/great-grandmother-expands-volunteer-food-bank/353954873


11/14: As we approach the Holiday Season and year end, we would like to thank everyone for your support and encouragement. Without it, we would not be able to continue. At the present rate of weekend deliveries we will end up with a figure of 3,284 weekend food packages delivered at the end of December. The moms that I have occasion to speak with are so very happy with the food packages. It allows them a bit of relief as to where the food will come from when their budgets are exhausted and the kids are still hungry. It also has been very helpful for the families that have kids under school age, because we pack the bags as to how many children there are, not by age. So, with our Weekend Program and the Summer Program we have delivered over 20,000 lunches to the area families! This number will only continue to grow so we ask for your continuing support. The kids involved can not be held accountable for the financial status of their family. They only ask to eat when they are hungry, and we will go to great lengths to make this happen. Again, thank you for keeping the Lantern Lit and the Kids Fit.

10/6: Thanks to everyone for their continuing support and interest in the Green Lantern Lunch Program. Since school began we have started a weekend delivery of food supplies to families that signed up. This is similar to the backpack program. Today is our fourth weekend distribution and we will be delivering 208 weekend bags. The total number for the first four weeks is 806. The bags include 2 bagged lunches for each child for two days and then depending on family size, additional food to share, ie; boxes of cereal, canned vegetable, soups, bread, peanut butter, pastas, and boxed mashed potatoes. This selection varies with each week. We hope for your continued support as we work to end hunger insecurity in our area. Thank you again. PS. You are helping to create many happy smiles on the faces of the kids and the Moms. -Phyllis Shaughnessy

9/2: As you may know, last summer Green Lantern Lunches delivered 10,003 lunches. Today was the last day of the 2016 program and the team delivered a whopping 16,919 lunches!! But they aren't done yet. Now they are working hard to start their weekend backpack program for ALL the schools in the area and hope to also supply food to families with children not old enough to attend school. Thank you for your support! We appreicate every penny!


8/31: It's our honor to share this beautiful video that HoolaHa.com produced. They sent their team down to Ocean Shores to film and interview Phyllis on what she is doing in her community. You can view the video here.

8/26: We are at a wooping 15,235 delivered lunches with only a few more weeks to go before we begin sending home food backpacks on the weekend for all of the schools in the area. Thank you for your support!!!

8/12. Green Lantern Lunches has officially delivered 11,689 lunches so far summer! Everyone is working hard to give these kids a lunch and a smile.

7/25: As we approach the end of our 5th week of delivering lunches I asked Phyllis (Founder of Green Lantern Lunches) what are some of her most memorable moments so far this year. Here is her response:

"Probably some of the most memorable moments are when the Moms tell me what a huge difference the lunches make in their monthly budget. And how it saves them from running out before the end of the month. They are very grateful and the extra we give families on Friday's for the weekend is also greatly appreciated. As for the kids, no matter how old I get, I will always remember them come running to the car yelling "It's the lunch lady, the lunch lady, yeah!!!!" They are full of smiles and can't wait to get into the bags to see what came today. It is something else to see a little guy, about 3 years old, trying to carry all 6 lunches going to his house. I have felt more emotion delivering these lunches than in all the years of working food banks. There is something special about meeting a child at his door and giving him a smile, a lunch and a loving touch. It makes sense in this world of turmoil."

Thank you to Phyllis and her team for all they are doing in this community!!! xo

7/18: We are 4 weeks into our 2016 program and so far Phyllis and the other volunteers have delivered 5,332 to children who are in need of meals this summer. The lantern is lit and everyone is working hard to ensure these growing children have the food necessary for their growth. Thank you for all your support!!!!! We could not do it without you!!!!

Only 6 more weeks to go before the backpack program starts!


6/22: Our dream is becoming reality!! Yesterday (6/21) marked our second day of operation for the 2016 Green Lantern Lunch Program and we delivered 235 lunches (and needed more!) The lantern is lit and burning bright here on the North Beach. Thank you all for making this happen. Love, Phyllis




3/15: INTERVIEW with The Make-A-Difference Spotlight Podcast #44 "Great Grandmother On A Mission To Help Over 200 Children - Daily"

https://www.americasfootprints.com/podcast/feed.php ( find podcast # 44)

1/8:  As of Jan 8th, we began sending home a back pack of non-perishable food items that can be used over the weekend. Thus far we have five families (26 children) that will benefit from this service. They are students at Pacific Beach Elementary. They will return the empty backpacks on Monday and we will refill them at weeks end. We expect the program to grow and are ready to meet the need as it arises.

12/24: Here is an article from North Coast News that does a great job describing this whole journey of Lantern Lunches.

“Whether its her efforts to raise funds, deliver lunches, build a support network or just step up when no one else will, Shaughnessy isn’t one to run away."

http://northcoastnews.com/livinglifestyles/spotlight-still-shines-lantern-lunches.html


11/19: I am thrilled to share this video of Phyllis on the daytime TV, The Real, for her lunch program.  Just wait until you see the big surpirse!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uevfMaG19m0



Phyllis' story has now been published on King 5 News, USA today, People's Magazine and The North Coast News and more! Please see the following links for more information on her remarkable story!

http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/olympia/2015/08/10/free-lunch-green-lantern-shaughnessy-copalis-grays-harbor/31431691/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/humankind/2015/08/11/humankind-lunch-lady/31456079/

http://www.people.com/article/great-grandma-delivers-free-summer-lunches-to-students-in-washington-state

http://northcoastnews.com/livinglifestyles/spotlight-still-shines-lantern-lunches.html


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MORE INFO: ( from the King 5 News article)

Students who rely on free lunches during the school year can run out of luck when school's out, but Phyllis Shaughnessy was determined to bridge this gap.

Stocked with more than 200 sack lunches a day and a core of volunteers to help pack them, Monday through Friday, the great-grandma stepped up this summer to help deliver 6,851 meals – and counting – direct to their doors.

So is Shaughnessy, who organized the donor-driven program for the North Beach School District in northwestern Washington, and partnered with a local restaurant and her church to make it happen.

For 11 years the retired postmaster and part-time substitute teacher in Copalis Beach, Washington, counted on a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to find summer meals for students who qualified for free breakfasts and reduced-price lunches during the school year.

But last year, a change in the grant meant those meals had to be served in a single location – a challenge for a district whose rural residents are so spread out.

"We had to give it up," she says of the grant, "because we couldn't get the kids to where they needed to be."

Determined to fill the gap, Shaughnessy acquired a caterers' license. Rich and Claire Hall, who run the Green Lantern Pub, offered their kitchen as a place where meals could be packed. The Chapel by the Sea Presbyterian Church assisted Shaughnessy by sharing its nonprofit status with her program, and since mid-June donors have contributed about $12,000 to keep the "Green Lantern Lunches" going. The program will continue through Aug. 28.

"The kids are always excited when Miss Phyllis is here," Angelo Arroyo, a mother of five, told King5-TV.

And with grocery bills that climb during the summer months when her kids are home, Arroyo says, "It's really great they do it because they want to."

Indeed, says Shaughnessy: "Anyone doing this is going to profit as much as the child getting the lunch. If you weren't getting as much as you give, you wouldn't do it. It's a two-way street. It always is.

"All I know is that it's a blessing to the parents and to the kids," she says. "It gives them something to look forward to, and it isn't just the lunch. It is the personal contact you make with someone, letting someone know that you care."

Shaughnessy said the program has gone so well this summer she plans on continuing to raise funds to feed the children over the weekends during the school year.