When word got out that funding had been cut for the free lunch program at the Buckley Youth Activity Center, the Buckley Eagles Ladies Auxiliary picked up the ball and ran with it.

Pierce County funding for the program was being funneled through Bonney Lake, but when it was determined there weren’t enough low-income families in Buckley to qualify for the program, the county severed the funding.

“As soon as we heard about the problem, we elected to make it a top priority to donate funding and our time to what we certainly considered a worthwhile cause,” said Tracye Bleakmore, the Auxiliary committee chairwoman in charge of community needs. The group is determined to keep the free lunch program up and running for at least the remainder of the summer on a semi-weekly basis, she added.

Other groups stepping forward to keep the free lunch program afloat were the Bonney Lake Youth Center, the Bonney Lake Lions Club, the Buckley Kiwanis and the Community Presbyterian Church in Buckley.