Location:  946 Parsons Ave., Columbus, OH 43206

Interview with Darlene Scheid, Youth development Director, Community Development for All People

Tell me about the program.

My team and I are here for the kids. We serve meals Tuesday through Saturday to kids eighteen and under. We are an emergency food site in partnership with Children’s Hunger Alliance. We are serving breakfast, and dinner for the next day to families that roll through the fresh market from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

So, someone can get the fresh food from the other program and the breakfast and dinner?

Yes! Absolutely. Come as you are. We are not going to ask you for identification. We just ask you how many kids under eighteen in your household. You tell us, we give you the meals. It is that simple.

What is a typical meal? It conforms to the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) standards. We are working with Panera Bread,

How does a person volunteer?

Go to 4allpeople.org there is a volunteer button. If not for volunteers, we would not be able to do this. It is a low touch drive thru, safe way to do things. We accept donations (there is a donate button.)

We are offering a virtual children’s defense fund freedom school for the children on the south side. We typically do it in person at Lincoln Park Elementary (579 E. Markison Ave, Columbus, OH 43207). We are in our thirteenth summer as a sponsor organization. We are one of a hundred and ninety sponsor organizations across the country rooted in the freedom school movement of 1964, in civil rights and social justice, empowering kids to be change agents in their community. We are going to learn a lot of things together. I am excited about the opportunity to serve more kids than ever before.

Are you teaching kids how to knock somebody out?

No, we are teaching kids how to use their voice and exercise their civic rights and duties. We make sure that no matter how old you are, your voice can be heard. The people of the community know what is best for that community. We empower kids to identify the assets in the community and how they can impact their life and their world.

My take:

I observed the volunteers. They were MOVING! They had one volunteer on each side of the drive thru. They got their steps in….  They made me ALMOST want to put my camera down and start serving the community.