In the News: First UMC, Belmont

Without this Gaston County program, some kids would go hungry on school breaks

[JANE LITTLE jclittle@charlotteobserver.com- December 30, 2016]

BELMONT Fourteen years ago, an idea emerged when Preston and Martha Taylor drove past a group of children on break from school. Martha Taylor recalls her husband saying, “I wonder what those children are going to have for lunch?” Many kids eat both breakfast and lunch at school, and he worried that they went hungry on breaks. To fill that void, the Taylors started a program that delivers lunches to children during winter and spring breaks. “My husband likes to cook and I like to organize things, so it’s a good match,” Martha Taylor said. The program – Feeding the Children – began with 60 meals per day. Now it’s grown to include four elementary schools in Belmont and more than 300 meals per day. Lunches are cooked and packaged at First United Methodist Church in Belmont. Each meal has a main dish – such as chicken or pizza – fruit, vegetable and a treat. The food is paid for using donations, but Martha Taylor said sometimes she and her husband spend their own money if they want the children to have something special.