Wheeler County Public Library Distributes Free Summer Meals

Local residents have lined up each Monday behind the Wheeler County Public Library to take advantage of the library’s new Happy Helpings Summer Feeding Program.

“I think it’s a wonderful service that we provide to the community,” said Sue Ellen Wells, a part-time Wheeler County Public Library staff member and a major contributor to the food distribution program.

The library began its partnership with The Black Lotus Project on May 25, bringing Happy Helpings’ services to the area for the first time. According to the Ocmulgee Regional Library System’s public services librarian Delilah Carr, Happy Helpings is “Georgia’s Summer Food Service Program funded by the USDA and administered by DECAL’s Nutrition Services Division.”

“Food insecurity can become a larger challenge during the summer when children lose access to regular school meals,” said Carr. “The library recognizes that many families may need a little extra help during this time and hopes this partnership will provide meaningful support to the community.”

Happy Helpings distributes food each Monday from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., with recipients lining up in their vehicles behind the library. When they reach the front of the line, volunteers ask how many pre-prepared bags of food the drivers need before loading the bags into the recipient’s car.

Each bag is designed to help keep a child fed throughout the week, though the specific foods in the bags change each week. Volunteers will hand out QR codes which, when scanned, take recipients to an online menu for the next week’s distribution.

Wells estimated the service serves 50 adults and 150 children per week. The distributed bags are free of charge, 

However, one volunteer, Janice Mock, voiced concerns that some visitors to the food distribution may not need the food as much as some others. She claimed Wheeler County residents who truly need free food may not have the ability to drive over to the library.

“It’s got its pros and cons, that’s for sure,” said Mock. 

Wells said it is not the library’s place to discern which recipients are actually deserving of the food handouts. Instead, the volunteers hand out food to every visitor, often running out of food for the week.

“We ran out every time,” said Wells.

According to Happy Helping’s site manager for the Wheeler location, Rodney Atwater, the Wheeler County Public Library will receive a site increase. The site will continue to run until June 26.

“We hope to see you for the rest of this summer,” said Atwater.