Lunch program to expand

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A free summer lunch program that began in Austintown is expanding to include the Youngstown/Boardman area.

The original program, dubbed Camp Woodside, began in 2009 at Woodside Elementary School, 4105 Elmwood Ave., thanks to the Greater Austintown Ministerial Alliance.

The summer meals were set up to serve children from Austintown families who qualified for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s free lunch program during the school year.

The free lunch program continues at Camp Woodside and this summer will include the Boardman/Youngstown area at Camp Newport at Youngstown Christian School, 4401 Southern Blvd.

Nate Childers, director of Camp Woodside last summer, founded and serves as the executive director of Lampstand Fellowship Inc., a gospel cooperative and interdenominational outreach network. The free lunch program is but one of Lampstand’s initiatives. Both sites are under Lampstand’s direction.

The lunches are provided through Neighborhood Ministries in Youngstown and paid for through the USDA and overseen by the Ohio Department of Education. Lunch is available for any child 1 to 18 years old regardless of participation at either summer camp.

Camp Newport will be from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at Youngstown Christian School from June 13 through July 29 for all students who have completed kindergarten to sixth grade.

A different Boardman church will partner each week with the Lampstand program staff to provide fun, enrichment activities for the children and serve the free lunch, Childers said in a press release.

Camp Woodside will be at a new time, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, also from June 13 through July 29 for the same age group at Woodside Elementary. A different Austintown church will partner with the Lampstand’s program staff each week to provide activities and serve lunch.

Go to the website — www.lampstandfellowship.org — for more information about the fellowship’s programs.

Pre-register online at www.campnewport.org for Camp Newport and www.campwoodside.org for Camp Woodside. You can also pre-register by calling Childers at 330-883-9327 or email at registration@lampstandfellowship.org.