Fallon Youth Club’s food programs benefit hungry children

In this month’s Club Corner, I decided to introduce you to the Fallon Youth Club’s after-school snack and summer food programs.

These programs represent two ways in which the Fallon Youth Club reaches outside of our primary activities to provide a valuable service to the community. These services are provided to all children, whether they are active members of the club or not.

When the Fallon Youth Club was organized in 2005, the mission of the club was to provide support to the youth of Churchill County including access to a safe environment, encouragement of academic success, development of social interaction skills and reinforcement of positive life choices.

The founders of the club recognized that the available research clearly established that children are far less likely to succeed in learning programs if they are participating on an empty stomach.

Since our club opened its doors, it has remained dedicated to feeding the children of Churchill County. Each day after school, the club offers a snack to any child who requests one, whether they want to attend the club or not. The Club has served as many as 22,000 snacks in a single year, free of charge, to those children.

In addition to the afterschool snack program, the Fallon Youth Club administers a lunch program, providing free lunches to children during the summer months when most schools are not in session. Lunches are served Monday through Friday at Sunridge Quarters, Churchill Villages and Oats, Laura Mills and Broadway parks.

The lunches are prepared by Banner Churchill Community Hospital and delivered and handed out by employees of the club. Again, these lunches are available to any child who requests one. Last year, we served nearly 9,000 lunches to hungry children in less than three months.

These food programs are necessary, but they, of course, do not come without cost to our organization. Although we are quite lucky that BCCH donates time and the FDA provides some funding for the programs, the Fallon Youth Club commits significant resources to the operation of these food programs.

Please join us this summer or after school and witness for yourself the overwhelming need for these programs in our community. Please pledge your support to the Fallon Youth Club so we can continue to provide these basic needs to the children of our community.

If you are interested in supporting our food programs, supporting other activities at the club or want more information regarding the club, contact us at 775-423-6926 or visit us on the web at www.fallonyouthclub.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Lem Mackedon is the president of the Fallon Youth Club.