Children in summer lunch camp also develop business skills
Fifteen years after its founding, a program providing free summer lunches to children is continuing its mission.
Kim Emch, a member of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church at Mill Run, incorporated Serving Our Neighbors Ministries, or SON Ministries, in 2007.
It rebranded as Festa last year and with the support of volunteers and staff members, it continues to expand its programming, which includes an entrepreneurial experience for children to invent and operate their own businesses.
Each Thursday and Friday this year, for four weeks from June 28 to July 22, students in kindergarten to eighth grade operate a kitchen at Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3500 Main St., and the Hilliard Church of Christ, 4300 Avery Road.
The students operate 'Mario and Luigi’s' each Thursday and 'Infinity Kitchen' each Friday.
This year, the students chose an Italian theme and are responsible for taking reservations, seating customers, taking orders, preparing the food, serving food and cleaning.
Reservations are accepted online and customers are asked for freewill donations that are used to purchase the food being served.
“If any proceeds are left over, the students vote on how to use them for an end-of-summer party,” which in the past included a bounce house or a magician, said Emch, founder and executive director of Festa.
The program is designed to give the same students enrolled in the Festa Free Summer Lunch Camp an opportunity to develop a skill set to use when seeking jobs later in life, Emch said.
Parker Hawk, a 9-year-old student at Washington Elementary School, was a seating hostess July 8 at Infinity Kitchen.
“It is fun to meet all the people (and) I enjoy talking to them,” Parker said.
Among the customers at Infinity Kitchen were Peggy and Dick Smith, members of the Hilliard Church of Christ, who drove from Plain City to support the students' effort after learning about Festa via a church email.
“We came here last week and now it’s kind of a date for us each Friday. We like to watch the children,” Peggy Smith said.
Other customers included Hilliard City Councilman Pete Marsh and his wife, Beverly.
“We came to support the kids,” and Festa, Marsh said.
“It’s a great learning experience for them.”
Reservations can be madeon Thursdays at Resurrection Evangelical Church and Fridays at Hilliard Church of Christ at signupgenius.com/go/5080C4EA5AB2FA3FF2-20226.
The students operating the restaurants are also enrolled in the Festa Summer Lunch Camp, offered this year from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Monday through Friday in June and July at the two church host sites.
This year, 551 students are enrolled in the camp.
Most are from Hilliard and qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch during the school year, but some are from Columbus and neighboring communities as there are no residency requirements, said Lydia Emch, Kim Emch’s daughter who is the marketing, communication and project manager for Festa.
“If you can get here, you have lunch. We don’t turn any child away.”
The program has about a $250,000 budget funded by a variety of grants, but also private donations, according to Kim Emch.
In addition to lunch, Festa schedules entertainment for the children, which includes craft-making and games, such as soccer and other outdoor physical activities.
Guests also visit the summer camp, including police K-9s and reptile handlers, Lydia Emch said.
For further information about Festa, visit wearefesta.org.
kcorvo@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekCorvo
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Children in summer lunch camp also develop business skills
