Community has also created a Growing Healthy Kids program to assist the 70% o f children in Lee County Schools who are entitled to free or reduced-cost lunch. A certified National School Lunch Program vendor, Growing Healthy Kids delivered more than 40,000 lunches to four schools in 2016, “and every lunch was made from scratch in our kitchens.” Cooperative
“The real key is our 2,000 wonderful volunteers. They’re our helping
hands and feet, and we simply couldn’t do it without them.”
— Tracey Galloway
Galloway has even enhanced a small social service department into a Social and Educational Resource Services program. Working out of its own Resource Center as well as partner United Way locations, “we share information and hold classes on many resources people may not know are available, or where to even start to get the help they need. We want to help people stand on their own, because if they don’t they’ll never get out of their situation.” If it all sounds like a lot of work, it is — but as Tracey Galloway will tell you, it’s really much more a passion that she, her staff, her donors and
her many volunteers share. “This is one of those jobs when I’m not at work I feel guilty because I want to be here,” she says. “It’s not easy to help as many people as we do. We run into a lot of roadblocks. Our staff works ridiculously hard to do
what we need to do, but every day we see some success. It feels great to know we’ve made a difference in someone’s life, maybe even helped save it.” CommunityCooperative.com
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