Evanston resident Martin Mancera was looking for a job in 1999. Through someone he knew at the Robert Crown Community Center, he found one as a bilingual park assistant at Clyde-Brummel Park in south Evanston.

There, the city ran its Summer Food Program, providing free meals to youth in the area.

“At the time and now, (parents) have very tight budgets,” Mancera said. “Sometimes feeding kids throughout the summer gets very expensive. Some of the parents will tell you, ‘Oh man, this kid will eat you out of a house if you let them in,’ and it’s true.”

The city’s Summer Food Program has now expanded to seven sites, serving almost 24,000 free lunches and 16,000 free breakfasts to youth across Evanston this year, program coordinator Marchelle Bonner said. Her work involves everything from collaborating with the city’s meal vendor, Evanston Township High School, to hiring staff and finding new sites, she said.

Mancera, now a program supervisor affectionately nicknamed “Mr. Lunchman,” said the program is important because Evanston parents need meals for children at sites where kids expend energy like parks, schools and community centers.

At Clyde-Brummel, some parents would bring their neighbors’ kids along or walk their dog while their children ate, he said.

“The city of Evanston truly values its youth and wants to ensure they are at least fed on a daily basis, which is why this program is so important,” Bonner said. “The city really truly supports us in this effort.”

Beyond its outward impact, Bonner said the program also employs adults who would typically work only during the school year, giving them the opportunity for year-round income. She said the program also hires high school students as park assistants every year through the Evanston Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program. They provide the muscle, preparing tables, putting lunch items into bags, keeping the parks clean and breaking down the sites each day, she said.

ETHS junior and park assistant Leonardo Patino has worked for the program since the summer of 2023.

“It’s really chill because I can just have some headphones in and listen to some music, waiting for the day to pass by,” he said. “It’s really calming.”

Bonner said she largely takes care of the administrative work while Mancera is in charge of all food-related work. Together, they develop new menus each year by listening to input from staff, working with ETHS, abiding by state standards and rigorously taste testing, Mancera said.

Harrington Gibson, who coordinates summer camps at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center, said the food program helps the nearly 150 children who participate in the camps each year.

Gibson said children are supported if they don’t have the means to bring meals from home.

“It’s the highlight of the day,” Gibson said. “They’re always really excited when it’s time to go grab lunch, and most of the time, they’re pretty happy with the options.”

Bonner said one of the limitations the program faces is accounting for kosher meals and other dietary restrictions. Those needs are usually only communicated once the program starts, she said.

Bonner said creating new sites in underserved areas is a priority for the program’s future. South Evanston became one of these underserved “voids” after the Clyde-Brummel site closed in 2006, she added, so the program added a new site there last year.

That return on investment is invaluable, Mancera said. Outside of the people who receive meals, Bonner added that the program employs people who work during the school year but not the summer, giving them the opportunity for year-round income.

“You see kids grow up, and then they come and work,” Mancera said. “They’ll be like, ‘Hey, I want to go and do what you do.’ There’s a lot of value in it because kids see what you do, and they want to do the same thing you do later in life when they get older.”

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