05/15/2026
HELP FEED CHILDREN THIS SUMMER!!
Alvina's Summer Lunches will launch on June 1st and end (God willing) on August 14th. This is 11 weeks until school starts again. The Carpenters Cup has received some money to purchase some of the things we need to get started, We have reached out to businesses to help with either food items or financial support. We have been successful with some businesses already and are waiting for others to let us know how they can help. We have been given some money, so in an effort to be transparent, this is where the money is going.
We purchase the pudding cups from Sams Club. They come in a 36 pack box and the cost has increased to close to $10.00 per box. This is the cheapest we can find. We just spent around $250-$300 for just the pudding, and that will last us a little over 2 weeks. We use 500 packs weekly.
The foil sheets, plastic spoons, brown bags and ketchup packets come from Amazon. We just spent close to $200 for these items and they will last us 2-3 weeks.
We just spent close to $400.00 at Wal-Mart for potato chips, cookies, sandwich baggies and napkins. We purchase the least expensive and biggest bags we can find of both the chips and cookies, then we bag them up ourselves. This is cheaper than buying individual packages. This will last us about 2 weeks.
If we send out sandwiches even one day a week, we go through several packages of ham, sliced cheese, mayonnaise, and bread. We buY the largest container of mayonnaise we can find. From a loaf of bread, we can usually get 10-11 sandwiches. That means we need about 10 loaves of bread for that day. That also means 100 slices of ham (depending on the size of the slice, we may need to use 2 slices), and 100 slices of cheese. A large 5 lb. loaf of Great Value sliced cheese from Wal-Mart is $18.00 for 120 slices. We would go through 1 loaf in a week.
Typically, the lunches contain pizza, a hot dog, a hamburger a sandwich or corn dog, chips, cookies, and pudding. We always give out a napkin, a spoon, and a packet of ketchup if needed. If someone brings in fruit (orange or apple), they get put in the bags. Everything that is brought in is added to the bags, so every bag given out is not necessarily the same, but everything is used.
We have volunteers from past years returning to help again, and needless to say, we would be lost without their help.
If you can help in anyway, please support and feed the hungry this summer. With the cost of living, food and gas, parents are struggling to keep food on the table. For those of us that have grown children, we can remember that struggle.
Please share, pray, and support as you can.
God bless.
