Project Feed the Kids carnival returns Sunday to support free meals

Project Feed the Kids says it is serving 4,000 lunches a week across Grand Traverse County, and Sunday’s carnival will be one more push to keep those meals moving. The fifth annual fundraiser will return June 7 at 4 p.m. at J&S Hamburg South Airport, 1083 W South Airport Rd. in Traverse City, with admission set at $18 for adults and $10 for children.

The event will mix fundraising with the kind of family attractions that have helped make it a draw, including games, food, t-shirts, swag bags, face painting, a poker run, a cake walk and an auction. Organizers say every dollar raised helps keep coolers stocked and meals going out to local children and families in need.

Behind the carnival, the need is significant. Project Feed the Kids says its mission is to fight food insecurity in the community, and it now operates eight cooler locations that are available 24/7 with no questions asked and no qualifications required. Families can pull up to a cooler and take what they need, a model built for households that may not be able to navigate more formal assistance.

The organization’s own history shows how quickly that need emerged. In its early days, it said school closures and job losses left families struggling to feed children, and the first week of packing produced 81 meals. The next week, that total jumped to 500. What began as an emergency response has grown into a weekly food network that now reaches thousands of lunches.

The timing matters in Grand Traverse County, where MSU Extension cites 2023 Feeding America data showing child food insecurity at nearly 14 percent. The same data show 63 percent of children in the county are income-eligible for federal nutrition assistance, a reminder that a large share of local households are living close to the edge even in a tourism-rich area.

Project Feed the Kids is part of a wider regional effort that includes the Northwest Michigan Food Coalition, which serves Grand Traverse and neighboring counties. A recent feature on the coalition reported it distributed more than 129,000 meals last year across roughly 70 food pantries, emergency meal sites and baby pantries. Against that backdrop, Sunday’s carnival is more than a summer outing. It is a direct funding source for a food system that many local families rely on every week.

This year’s event also carries a memorial note. It will be held in honor of founder Tiffany Mcqueer’s in-laws, and the space will be decorated in Audrey Landsfeld’s favorite color, purple. That personal detail links the fundraiser to the family connections that helped shape the organization’s identity, while keeping the focus on the work still ahead: keeping food in coolers, lunches in backpacks and support within reach for families across Grand Traverse County.