Free Brown Bag Meals
The Brown Bag program provides community members in-need with a free, healthy, grab-n-go meal. Free meals are available every Tuesday and Thursday 5-7 p.m., to any hungry child or adult who needs one.
The Brown Bag program will operate exclusively out of the Lussier Family East YMCA, 711 Cottage Grove Road in Madison, due to its location in a food desert. Meals will vary but will generally consist of a sandwich, fruit, vegetable and milk. For example, the first brown bags will include a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, apple, carrot sticks and milk.
The East Y will have a food cart stationed outside the front entrance in nice weather or in the lobby in poor weather. Individuals are invited to stop by each Tuesday and Thursday evening to grab a meal. There are no eligibility qualifications such as YMCA membership or program participation; this program is simply open to anyone who is hungry and stops by.
The Brown Bag program will be staffed by Y volunteers and funded with a grant from Wal-Mart/The Wal-Mart Foundation and YMCA of the USA as part of the national Feeding America program. It will also be recognized as a site for the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program, designed to ensure that no child goes hungry by providing nutritious meals when school is not in session.
