St. Cloud nonprofit feeds kids and gets them outside

ST. CLOUD – Sizzling summer temperatures and stifling humidity would have most kids seeking an air-conditioned sanctuary.

Until recently, that's where you would have found Jacob and Puoch Weidnaar. With a PlayStation 4 controller in one hand and pizza rolls and macaroni and cheese within arm's reach, it would have been very hard to convince these teenagers — or most kids their age — that a world existed outside their bedroom walls.

But most weekdays during the summer, the Weidnaar boys have exchanged their PlayStation controllers for time outside shooting hoops and hanging out with friends.

It's a pleasant side effect from a program started by feeding hungry kids.

The Yes Network is nonprofit organization designed to feed students in low-income neighborhoods. Started by Jerry Sparby in 2011, the program has expanded its mission to get kids like the Weidnaars outside and playing with their peers.

So far, he has been successful. But the summer of 2016 has not been without challenges for the six-year-old program.

Sparby said the Yes Network had recently transitioned back to preparing meals at St. Cloud State University's Garvey Commons after spending the first month prepping meals at Apollo High School.

A great sign for a program that was ­struggling to find a space to call home.

Sparby said the St. Cloud State vendor contract with Sodexo, a partner of the Yes Network, was not renewed effective July 1. Without that contract, Sparby was concerned where his organization was going to operate. Not to mention, the Sodexo partnership brought in $20,000 in donations to the Yes Network.

But Sparby said the new St. Cloud State vendor, Chartwells, has agreed to continue the work laid out by its predecessor. Sparby said Chartwells made a $10,000 donation to the organization, which serves 22 sites across the St. Cloud area, including sites in Rockville and St. Joseph.

The Yes Network has five designated play sites, including Westwood Village, where kids have the opportunity to have organized play time with Yes Network's 10 college-aged and 14 high-school aged employees. "When our team shows up, they just run out," Sparby said.

Despite a heat index in the 100s one day in July, Sparby's Yes Network brought almost 70 kids outside at Westwood Village apartments to play on a homemade slip and slide and enjoy a grill-out celebration.

Spending time with friends is a big draw for 6-year-olds Hom Lual and Buom Puoch as well.

"My parents like that I'm playing with my friends," Puoch said.

For the past year and a half, Yes Network employee Ismail Abukar, a 22-year-old business management major at St. Cloud State, has spent his summers giving kids the chance he wish he would have received growing up: to be a kid.

"Their parents are busy every day," he said. "Some of them work night shifts, and when they come home they sleep during the day. They might not have the time or the money to cook or play with their kids."

Paul Frantti, a 22-year-old elementary education major at St. Cloud State, is also glad to be a part of it.

"This is a way to build trust and have fun," he said. "And it helps all of us grow as community members."