At a recent meeting of concerned community members, actions were discussed to help meet the needs of local teens.

“We talked to people at The Center, the R.E.C. Room, local businesses, a youth job training program, everybody we could think of to see how teenagers are taken care of during the summer,” said Lisa Talbott, Homer United Methodist Church’s newly appointed elder. “There’s a significant gap and we’re trying to stand in that gap.”

With hunger identified as one of the most significant needs, the Homer United Methodist Church began Friday making sack lunches that were picked up by Glacierview Baptist Church and then made available in the parking lot of Midtown Café from 2-4 p.m. 

The collaborative effort dovetails with activities coordinated by Janet O’Rourke of TUFF, Teens United for a Future.

“We’re not excluding anyone,” Sherry Stead at Homer United Methodist Church said of the weekly lunch serving program.

Talbott agreed.

“We’re trying to make sure teenagers know there’s no strings attached. We want them to know the adults in this community care unconditionally,” she said. “Our job is to fill their bellies right now. If there are other services that this coalition of churches and community organizations can provide, that will be the next step.”

For more information, to donate to the effort or to help in other ways, call Stead at 235-8528.