LAMP Lunch Buddies Program

The Litchfield Area Mentorship Program will be starting up the Lunch Buddies program again soon as a new school year is underway. The program has been operating in Litchfield and Dassel for many years. It began last year at ACGC and will start this year at Eden Valley-Watkins.

Erika Buller says the mentor makes a commitment of 2 hours a month and they get a free lunch. She says she works with the social workers at Lake Ripley Elementary School to determine appropriate matches of mentors with children.

Buller says Lunch Buddies will get started in October. Lake Ripley Elementary School social worker Anne Mahoney says after lunch, the lunch buddies do some type of activity with their child, depending on their skills and the interests of the child. She says the program brings another adult role model into the lives of the children.

Mahoney says children have already been asking when the Lunch Buddies program will get going. She says new staff in the Litchfield School District also have mentors to help them as they get started in a new work environment.

The Litchfield Area Mentorship Program will have a presence at the Fallin’ into Fun Fest in Litchfield on Saturday and the staff will participate in the scarecrow contest. For more information about the Litchfield Area Mentorship Program – including how to get involved in Lunch Buddies, call 320-699-1616 or go to lampkinship.org.