In the back of Super Bear, there’s a stockroom nearly as big as the supermarket itself. Heavy shelves of nonperishables line the walls. Produce sits in cardboard by the doors, ready to be brought out to brightly-lit aisles bustling with holiday shoppers.
In the back, it’s just as busy. Or at least it was on the Wednesday before Juneau schools let out for winter break. That afternoon, the backroom became headquarters for Project Three Squares, a program to make sure kids get enough to eat during school breaks.
IGA, which owns both Super Bear and Foodland, has run the program in Juneau since 2016. This year, employees from both stores packed up 478 bags of food.
On Thursday those bags were delivered to each of Juneau’s schools, where staff distributed them to students who might need a little extra help over the holidays.
One of the people overseeing the operation was Super Bear store director Tony deMelo. He said the bags were filled with breakfast and lunch in mind. Each bag contained hot cocoa, a can of fruit, a box of cereal, a few packets of ramen noodles, canned tuna and granola bars.
John Ouderkerk, better known as JP, is the assistant store director at Super Bear. He did the ordering for Project Three Squares, most of which happened back in July. He was especially pleased to include the cocoa in this winter’s bags. That’s a first, he said.
“I figured since it’s such a cold, chilly winter, we put some of that in there this time so they have a nice treat on their break,” Ouderkerk said.
Project Three Squares takes place twice a year, before winter and spring breaks. This time around, about 30 employees of both Super Bear and Foodland volunteered to pack bags and deliver them to the schools. Ouderkerk’s own kids also pitched in.
The program is partially funded by the sale of reusable tote bags, designed by local artist MK MacNaughton and sold at both stores. All together, Foodland store director Rick Wilson estimated that IGA spends about $20,000 on the project in Juneau each year.
