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Readiness to Learn describes weekend meals, snack programs and partnerships serving South Whidbey students
Summary
At a community briefing, Readiness to Learn outlined its feeding and family-support programs: a weekend meal program serving about 220 children, classroom snack fridges, home deliveries to about 95 households and partnerships that include a school farm and AmeriCorps staffing support.
Readiness to Learn told attendees at a South Whidbey School District community briefing that it now serves about 220 children through a weekend meal program and maintains snack fridges and fresh fruit programs at campus sites to support students during the school day. “We have been an organization since 2007,” the Readiness to Learn presenter said, describing grocery and ready-to-eat options offered to families depending on household needs.
The presenter said the nonprofit operates two weekend meal options and a summer meal program to fill a gap the district cannot meet because the district does not reach the threshold required to run a summer meals program itself. The group also stocks fridges at school campuses with ready-to-eat items and operates a fresh fruit-and-vegetable snack program for K–5 students, with a special popcorn day midweek.
Readiness to Learn said it delivers to roughly 95 households on seven delivery routes and that just under 20% of district students experience housing insecurity; the presenter said the elementary school’s free-and-reduced lunch rate is about 31%. The nonprofit named several community partners — including the school farm program, after-school clubs and a community hub — and said the farm and the snack program are fiscally linked: Readiness to Learn serves as fiscal sponsor for the school farm and supports its fundraising and AmeriCorps team.
The presenter described reliance on AmeriCorps members and volunteers, saying the program has about 45 volunteers who contribute dozens of hours each month. Friends of the Farm, a recently restarted fundraising group, raised more than $30,000 in about four months, the presenter said, and those funds will help cover at least one AmeriCorps member’s costs next year.
A parent who receives the weekend bags described the practical benefit, saying receiving the weekly bag “is like getting a hug in the form of nourishment,” and thanked the organization for helping with staples and easing household stress.
Funding for Readiness to Learn comes from fundraising appeals, local and larger grants, and contracts with partner organizations, the presenter said. The presenter invited community members to volunteer for Tutor Time and other student-facing programs and noted opportunities to join a developing Friends of the Farm group.
The organization asked attendees to direct questions to its staff or visit materials on the district website for more details; the presenter said the enrollment and program numbers discussed were drawn from the nonprofit’s most recent fiscal year.
