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LeMoyne Center gets help distributing lunches Wednesday

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Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter

Washington County Sheriff’s officers help the LeMoyne Community Center distribute free backpacks to children Wednesday at Jollick Manor in Washington.

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Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter

Washington County Sheriff’s officers and members of the NAACP help distribute lunches to children Wednesday at Jollick Manor in Washington, through the LeMoyne Community Center’s summer lunch program.

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Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter

Washington County Sheriff’s officers help the LeMoyne Community Center distribute free backpacks to children Wednesday at Jollick Manor in Washington.

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Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter

Washington County Sheriff’s officers help the LeMoyne Community Center distribute free backpacks to children Wednesday at Jollick Manor in Washington.

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Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter

The Washington County Sheriff’s Department helped the LeMoyne Community Center distribute free backpacks to children Wednesday at Jollick Manor in Washington.

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Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter

Washington firefighters help the LeMoyne Community Center pass out free lunch and backpacks to children Wednesday at the Youth for Christ Center on Allison Avenue.

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Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter

Washington firefighters and members of the NAACP help the LeMoyne Community Center distribute free lunch and backpacks to children Wednesday at the Youth for Christ Center on Allison Avenue.

Washington firefighters, Washington County Sheriff’s officers and members of the city’s NAACP helped pass out free lunches and backpacks to children Wednesday.

As part of its summer lunch program, the LeMoyne Community Center distributes 150 meals to children at 10 different sites across the city five days a week. On Wednesday, firefighters helped out in the Youth for Christ Center parking lot, at the corner of Maple and Allison avenues, while the sheriff’s department assisted at the Jollick Manor location.

“Considering all the things that have been going on, I thought this would be a little more fun for the kids,” said Ronae Patterson, a summer camp supervisor with the LeMoyne Community Center. “I thought if they could see grownups bridging the divide that would be good. Associations leading by example – that’s a good thing for kids to see.”

Patterson said she wanted the law enforcement officers, firefighters and NAACP members to show the youth of the city a sense of “camaraderie,” and that they all care about the community. She also wanted the children to have positive interactions with first responders.

“They can show these kids ways they’re there to help the community,” she said. “And the kids can see that first responders are human too and that they are there more to help than to hurt people.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Patterson said the lunch program has had more mouths to feed, and the center is “down to a skeleton crew,” she said.

“This pandemic has been so overwhelming for all of us,” she said.

Stephen Thomas, supervisor of the summer lunch program, said what they do is “more than a meal.”

“People realize they’re not forgotten,” he said. “It’s more being able to see a kid smile and to build a relationship with them.”

John Williams is the chef who cooks the meals, which are balanced with protein, grains, fruit and vegetables. He’s been a chef for 44 years, he said, and has a spot in his heart for the LeMoyne Center.

“I went there as a kid,” he said. “I grew up in the community, and now I’m giving back.”

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