By Jane Stauss, Age 10

I think HIP Summer Meals is a great opportunity for younger kids to get involved in what’s going on in their community while making new friends.

During summer meals food prep, while adults prepare the main foods in the kitchen, kids get to finish prep all up by packaging the foods and organizing the coolers. Some of the meals we prep for are: turkey pesto meatballs, almond butter and jelly sandwiches, mini quiches with tomatoes… but my favorite summer meal is the turkey pesto meatballs.

In my opinion, serving is the best part because you get to meet lots of people who share your interests. When you are serving the meals to the community, there are 4 different locations to choose from. HIP serves at all the locations every day. You get to help set up the tent, table and food. It usually takes a minute before people come, but there is always a steady flow. Once the kids volunteering have served everyone, they can eat lunch, too, as long as they are under 18.

But you get not only the satisfaction of helping the community, you get the satisfaction of meeting new, wonderful people, making new friends, and learning something new!