By Melanie Patterson

A Warrior church has committed to feeding a group of children for the remainder of the summer.

Family Life Center is providing up to 40 meals, five days a week, at the Boys and Girls Club of Central Alabama, Inc., located in Warrior.

The meals include a sandwich, fruit, a bag of potato chips and 100-percent fruit juice. They are served Monday through Friday.

“A lot of times when children are not in school, they don’t get a good nutritious lunch,” said Greg Holsey, pastor of Family Life Center for six years.

Lisa Hayes, unit director at the Warrior Boys and Girls Club, said parents are supposed to provide lunch for their children when dropping them off for the day, but they do not always do so.

“It means a lot to the kids because lot of times they come in without a lunch,” she said. “When the church came up with this idea, I told him (Holsey) that it would be great because then I knew everybody would get a lunch.”

“There are a lot of kids who stay there all day while their parents work,” Holsey said. “They might have a bag of chips and a Coke for lunch.”

Hayes said the children whose families do provide lunch for them still get their meals from the church. They eat them for a snack during the day.

Several church members help prepare the food, including Holsey, his wife Brenda J. Holsey, Yvonne Harris, Shelia Tanksley, Cindy Sharp and Kim Daniel. Many of the women drive from Birmingham every day to help.

“These are ladies that come every day,” said Holsey. “They get up and they come faithfully.”

They then deliver the food at the Boys and Girls Club at 11 a.m.

“We really appreciate what they’re doing,” Hayes said.

Children must be members of the Boys and Girls Club to stay there during the day.

Children ages 7 to 12 can join. They can remain members until they turn 18.

There are currently 40 children enrolled, Hayes said.

Summer hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. When school starts, the club will close at 5:30 p.m.

It costs $75 for children to attend during the summer.

The cost for the school year has almost tripled from last year, but is still a bargain at only $70 for the entire school year, or $35 per semester. Last year, it cost $25 for the school year, Hayes said.

Hayes said the children take part in various indoor and outdoor activities at the club, including Nintendo, playing pool, arts and crafts, and outdoor sports.

They also take several field trips during the summer.

Family Life Center is involved in the community in other ways as well.

On Aug. 22, the church will host a health fair from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Various physicians will attend, as well as the Warrior Fire Department, representatives teaching about sexually-transmitted and other diseases, nutritionists and other health care representatives.

The event is free to the public. Those who attend can have their blood-pressure checked and have other health screenings.

The health fair will be at Family Life Center, 215 Park Drive in Warrior (next to Fred’s).