The summer lunch program at Meed’s Memorial United Methodist Church provides meals for the children of Nesquehoning all summer long.

To celebrate the end of the season, volunteers put on a carnival for the kids.

The atmosphere was festive in the church basement and parking lot Friday as kids played games and collected prizes in addition to their normal meal.

Volunteers organized carnival activities like a water balloon toss (with a volunteer as a target), a lollipop pull, knock-the-cup and face painting.

Organizers said there was a great turnout for the last day of the summer.

“We actually were such a success we ran out of prizes. Someone’s coming with more prizes,” said volunteer Cyndi Christman.

The summer lunch program is supported entirely by volunteers and donations. Christman said that while they don’t receive any large donations from corporations or nonprofits, average citizens have been more than generous in giving their money to help kids get lunch during the summer.

“We had an older woman come in and give us $20. The little people have really been the ones pulling together for us,” she said.

Christman also praised her team, who have all volunteered their time on a regular basis in order to provide lunches to area kids.

“They know, you’re the cook, you’re the drink person. It kind of runs itself. It’s really great,” she said.

The lunch program is important because it means that the kids are getting at least one hot meal during the summer, no matter what their situation may be at home, Christman said. Most of the children the program serves are students at Panther Valley. Every student in the district gets a free lunch every day, because the district meets federal requirements for the program.

During the summer lunch program, they’ll eat sandwiches, grilled cheese, and even pork chops and mashed potatoes. Every Tuesday is taco Tuesday, which is the most popular day. Christman said on one Tuesday, they served 48 meals.

“I just think it’s important to reach out to the community. God said ‘feed the least of these, and you feed me,’ and that’s one of our missions,” she said.