The Elmore County commission recently hosted over 300 senior high students from Elmore County public and private schools for the annual County Government Day. Various county funded agencies and service organizations had educational booths and displays set up all with the purpose of exposing our students to their local government and available services.
During the event I learned more about a community service that our Grandview YMCA provides. Grandview YMCA Director Bill Myers spoke to a group of students about the Greater Montgomery Area (GMA) YMCA’s Brown Bag Bus and how it weekly sets up in various areas of the river region providing meals and also enriching the mind, body and spirit of participating students.
Bill explained in the area served by the GMA YMCA that 70% of students qualify for reduced and free school lunch and an average of 16.7 % of households do not have food security which means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life, compared to a national average of 14.3.
In 2017, the GMA YMCA launched the Brown Bag Bus obtained through a grant from Walmart and Coca-Cola to serve meals in the underserved areas which are funded by the USDA. The program was piloted in Montgomery County and is currently serving an average of 500 dinners a week during the school year and 450 lunches a day during the Summer. In January of this year, this bus expanded service to Elmore County where it currently serves approximately 60 children in Millbrook and 40 children in Wetumpka on Friday afternoons. The Brown Bag Bus currently averages serving about 3000 meals a month at 10 River Region locations.
Here is a fact that Bill Myers didn’t tell these students during his presentation that made me very proud. Bill Myers wrote the grant that provided funding for this bus to be purchased and customized. Bill and his staff do great things at the Grandview Y that positively affect people not only in our community but across the River Region. Knowing Bill I am sure he would be quick to tell you he has a great group of volunteers, staff and a Board that supports and enables him. I would agree with those facts, but it takes a leader with a servants heart to harness and channel that support for any effort to be successful. I really appreciate Bill’s leadership, and the positive impact he has in our community in so many areas that he serves with the Grandview Y. The Brown Bag Bus is just one of those impacts.
Bart
