Neighbor News
Animator creates illustrations for MUST Summer Lunch bags
Austin Day uses his creative talent to bring joy to at-risk children receiving MUST Summer Lunches
June 20, 2019 – Marietta, GA -- As a child, Austin Day of Marietta spent his free time watching cartoons and dreaming of the day his artwork would come to life on the small screen. Now, the 19-yr.-old Chattahoochee Technical College student spends the time not devoted to homework decorating lunch bags for children in need.
For four years, Austin has decorated the sacks for the MUST Ministries Summer Lunch program. Started in 1995 with one teacher taking 25 lunches from MUST to her students, the program now provides 7,000 lunches each weekday to children at risk during the summer. The program is led by volunteers who pack sandwiches and snacks into paper bags and hand deliver them to children.MUST Ministries Summer Lunch program endured a major blow when the health department informed MUST that it could no longer distribute sandwiches not made in a certified kitchen. The decision left MUST scrambling for a solution. Ultimately, the organization decided to purchase sandwiches – an unbudgeted expense exceeding $225,000. MUST launched a “Save Our Sandwiches” or “SOS” campaign to quickly raise funds for the purchasing, storing and shipping of the sandwiches. MUST remains $35,000 short of its goal.
Austin was not fazed by the issues facing the Summer Lunch program. He continued to decorate more than 100 lunch bags and hand deliver them to First Presbyterian Church of Marietta, a host site for Summer Lunch.
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“As a kid, cartoons made me happy,” said Austin. “I just want to make other kids happy, too.”
Austin’s passion for artwork led him to study animation. “My ultimate goal is to work for Turner Broadcasting and Cartoon Network,” Austin said. “That would be amazing!”
Summer Lunch is a volunteer-led program that provides dozens of opportunities to help your neighbors in need. MUST expects to deliver more than 250,000 lunches in seven counties in just 10 weeks. You can donate to Summer Lunch by texting MUSTSOS to 52182 or you can explore volunteer opportunities at mustministries.org/summer-lunch.
