| 8/24/2009 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Mayor Chris Coleman talks to a child at Dayton�s Bluff Recreation Center Aug. 20 after she�s had her fill of lunch. � Scott Nichols/Review |
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| Scott Nichols/Review
Apparently a few others at Dayton�s Bluff Recreation Center might poo-poo their raisins, but not this child: he asks an adult if he can feed his pet chinchilla at home.
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On his way to yet another Central Corridor LRT meeting, the mayor takes a break
Scott Nichols
news editor
Mayor Chris Coleman had a very good reason for stopping by Dayton's Bluff Rec Center to hand out some food to hungry kids Aug. 20. Really, he did.
Technically, of course, it was to help build awareness of the city's ever-increasing partnerships with the St. Paul Schools. To be even more specific, a landmark of sorts: St. Paul's rec centers are on target to serve an estimated 75,000 free meals by the end of summer. This is compared to the 61,000 meals served in 2008, and 58,000 in 2007. And that's just in the rec centers, not including the city's schools or other places that also contract to serve free summer meals to hungry kids.
But can't this be taken as a bit of bad news, too? A sign that there's a lot more misery going around this year versus prior years?
Sure, if your glass is half-empty.
But one can't have that kind of viewpoint and be very good at being mayor.
Besides, as a parent himself, Coleman pointed out - after handing out foodstuffs and chatting with the city's soon-to-be voters (about one decade hence) - at its most basic this means that there's a lot more kids getting food in their bellies.
"I think it's great that we're able to give these kids good nutrition," he said, pointing out that hungry kids from Dayton's Bluff not only ate 800 free meals last week at the rec center, but consumed 4,000 meals over the course of the summer so far.
Partnering to feed hungry kids
He was also able to point out that the increasing number of kids accessing the free meals - delivered by the St. Paul Public Schools thanks to federal funding from the USDA - are partly doing so through another education partnership very near and dear to his heart: the East Side circulator, the free bus connecting children to schools, community centers, libraries and the like.
And then, it was time to dash off for another mayoral responsibility: another meeting on the Central Corridor light-rail transit project.
But not before a spokesman for the mayor - after a reporter's query - admits that his boss needn't have shown up in person. Not really. But it was pretty clear he wanted to, said the spokesman, adding that exposure to children (in all their exuberant, over-the-top glory) helped The Boss recharge his batteries.
Lest the man feel too much like an island, he needn't.
So said St. Paul Public Schools nutrition services coordinator Dawn George.
After discussing how city-school partnerships have been expanding by leaps and bounds the last few years, she too admitted it: she steps out the school offices once in a while and hits the school cafeterias, just to realize the importance of her sometimes seemingly dry job.
"There were many days I'd go back to the office" after a visit and feel totally refreshed, she said. "It was awesome."
Scott Nichols can be reached at eastside@lillienews.com or at 651-748-7816.
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