By Barry Porterfield
Pauls Valley Daily Democrat
Pauls Valley — With a spring break from school now upon Pauls Valley a local center that caters to the younger crowd looks to offer a helping hand during this week when classrooms remain empty.
James Tobey says the Kings Kids facility he oversees at 122 West Charles is again combining forces with some local and area churches to offer kids some food and activities during the spring break week.
The price is also right — free.
The lunches will go from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each weekday during the local spring break, March 15-19.
“The Christian community is putting on these lunches,” Tobey said.
“The kids will be out of school all week. There will be no lunch program so we decided to do this,” he said.
“We’ll have a different menu every day. This is for kids. If their parents do come we’ll treat them too.”
Tobey stresses lunches like the ones coming this week are made possible by the handful of Pauls Valley and Paoli churches that make monetary donations to the Kings Kids facility
“We probably have five or six churches that send donations down to us on a regular basis to help us feed some of these hungry kids,” he said.
“There are a lot of hungry kids out there; a lot of families hurting. This is just a way for us to help.”
The practice is not a new one as Kings Kids has organized similar special events during the Halloween and Christmas holidays, plus a couple of days during the summer at the local Bosa Pool.
Tobey said a church program normally held on Wednesdays will continue during this spring break special.
Along with the free food, the center at the West Charles location for the past seven years will also offer kids a variety of activities, such as video games, billiards, air hockey and an indoor playground.
The facility typically serves kids 12 years old and younger, Tobey said.
