United Lutheran Church of Grand Forks will offer a free lunch to children Monday through Thursday for the next three weeks.

Lunch will be served between noon and 2 p.m. in the church's courtyard at the corner of Fourth Avenue South and Chestnut Street.

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The church is stepping in to, at least partially, fill the void left by St. Joseph's Social Care, which has been providing free lunches to area youth for the past eight weeks at parks and other locations around the Grand Cities. That program ended this past weekend.

"Food insecurity" is not readily apparent in Grand Forks, said Julie Abrahamson, who's involved with the free-lunch project at the church. "We just don't see it."

But it's there, she said. More than half the students at nearby Phoenix Elementary School, for example, qualify for the school's free or reduced lunch program, which means their families are living "at or below poverty level."

Jim Bollman has spearheaded the effort to recruit volunteers to help prepare and serve food at United Lutheran, she said. So far, members of the Young Professionals and a group from the Grand Forks Air Force Base have agreed to participate.

"It's heartwarming to see the community come forward to fill a need," Abrahamson said.