Norwich Bully Busters, a volunteer group working with young people in the city, is stepping in to fill a need for students in search of a meal this week.
“Our goal today is just feeding kids," said Debbie Kievits, who leads the group. "Spreading some kindness, making some sandwiches to feed them and so they don’t go hungry.”
Tuesday was the second day that the volunteers made and served free lunches to kids, coming together after learning that a federally-funded summer meals program was not operating as planned at more than a dozen locations across the city.
According to a spokesperson for the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), the state approved a Norwich Public Schools application to serve free meals at 21 facilities this summer, including Norwich Free Academy.
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Those sites were supposed to start operating June 20, but the CSDE learned at a meeting on Thursday that only two of the approved sites were in operation.
"The continuity of summer meals for all students and families is of utmost importance to the Connecticut State Department of Education. We are hearing from families visiting the approved and advertised meal sites and not being able to obtain meals," a spokesperson for the department told NBC Connecticut in an email. "We are exploring potential options to address this issue."
The district told the state that they were having trouble staffing the sites, after they made the decision to stop operating the current food services program and hire an outside company, but the school district did not respond to NBC Connecticut's requests for comment.
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The contract with the new food service management company is supposed to begin July 1, though the CSDE said they only received contract materials on June 9.
"The CSDE has identified significant issues and concerns with their food service management contract and procurement procedures," the CSDE spokesperson told NBC Connecticut, adding that these contracts typically take weeks to approve if all things are in order and if there are no other contracts for review.
Four other districts submitted contracts for review ahead of Norwich. In the meantime, Kievits said she had also heard about families who went to the approved food sites and left empty handed.
"They are going to these play grounds or these local schools and there is no food," Kievits said. "They don't understand why - they are just trying to feed their kids for the summer."
Kievits started rallying people over the weekend. The pastors who share the St. Mark Lutheran Church building offered up the space for volunteers to make and serve the lunches.
“To do whatever we could do to stand in the gap to provide meals for these families," said Pastor David Holland of Cornerstone City Church.
The donations and volunteers poured in by Monday and the group served about 40 sandwiches on the first day. Among the volunteers are some of the former cafeteria managers for Norwich Public Schools Food Services.
"Just to help feed kids. We are thinking there are a lot of kids out there who might need some food this summer," said Lynn Bustamante, who was a cafeteria manager. "We have a lot of kids who really need to have these meals and they count on them."
The volunteers with Norwich Bully Busters plan to serve lunch at St. Mark from noon to 1 p.m. through Friday this week, hoping that the district will begin serving free summer meals by next week.
A local pizza shop has already donated pizzas for Thursday's lunch.
“Kindness is magical. They want to help. They want to feed kids," Kievits said.
