Fugate Enterprises answers call to feed kids this summer

Fugate Enterprises has made a $12,000 donation to the Kansas Food Bank and Partners for Wichita to provide an extra week of meals for Wichita-area kids this summer.

“It’s heartwarming,” said Brian Walker, president and chief executive officer of the food bank. “But really, when you think about our community, they always step up and rally around hunger issues.

“It’s nice to know that they saw the need and they said, ‘We want to do something about it.’ ”

Earlier this week, Partners for Wichita issued a call for donations to help cover the cost of an additional week of meals in August.

The Wichita district cut 15 days from its academic calendar as a cost-cutting measure, meaning students will start school on Aug. 24 instead of Aug. 17. That means a longer gap between the end of a local summer meal program, which serves free breakfasts, lunches or afternoon snacks, and the start of the federally funded school lunch program.

The “Filling the Gap” lunch program, run by Partners for Wichita and the Kansas Food Bank, plans to feed about 800 children each weekday at 16 sites in Wichita, Haysville and Oaklawn from Aug. 1-19.

The groups said they wouldd need about $12,000 to fund the additional week of lunches.

Fugate Enterprises, which provides management services to Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants, had planned to run its “Child Hunger Hero” promotion again this summer to benefit the Food 4 Kids weekend backpack program, Walker said. Then the company heard about the need for extra summer meals and responded.

“It was really kind of a surprise,” Walker said. “It’s nice for us to know that we have partners like this in the community and folks that will step up.”

Sheila Cairns, program coordinator for Partners for Wichita, said she and other volunteers were thankful for the donation as well.

“Just huge thanks,” she said. “We appreciate the community stepping up and helping us … when there was this unexpected increase in what we needed to do. That is absolutely wonderful.”

Filling the Gap, which started seven years ago, will serve box lunches to children from noon to 1 p.m. weekdays Aug. 1-19. Here are the locations.

▪ Delano: New Covenant Church, 1710 W. Douglas

▪ Haysville: Haysville United Methodist Church, 601 E. Grand

▪ North Wichita: Evergreen Neighborhood Resource Center, 2700 N. Woodland; Inter-Faith Ministries Villa Court, 930 N. Market

▪ Northeast Wichita: Atwater Neighborhood Resource Center, 2755 E. 19th St.; Dellrose United Methodist Church, 1502 N. Dellrose; True Word Church, 1108 N. Oliver; Urban League of Kansas, 2418 E. Ninth St.; Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, 1502 E. 17th St.

▪ Oaklawn: Lighthouse Church, 3401 E. 47th St. South

▪ South/southeast Wichita: Colvin Neighborhood Resource Center, 2820 S. Roosevelt; Hilltop Community Center, 1329 S. Terrace; Salvation Army Citadel Corps, 1739 S. Elpyco

▪ South/southwest Wichita: Cross Point Church, 1515 E. Harry; Salvation Army Orchard Corps, 1910 S. Everett

▪ West Wichita: West Heights United Methodist Church, 745 N. Westlink

This story was originally published June 15, 2016 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Fugate Enterprises answers call to feed kids this summer."