Green Lantern Lunches, the volunteer program that feeds hundreds of needy North Coast children, started its fourth summer Monday, as a small crew of volunteers assembled and delivered 532 lunch packages, each with a two-day food supply, throughout the area. Phyllis Shaughnessy, the Copalis Beach great-grandmother who founded the program, expects to hand out more than 30,000 free lunches over 10 weeks this summer, which would make it the biggest year yet.

The program has been adjusted so that packing and home deliveries of two-day lunch bags are made on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on four routes, Ocean Shores, Copalis Beach to Copalis Crossing, Pacific Beach to Taholah and Humptulips. Currently, the effort is in desperate need of drivers for the Ocean Shores route, which is the biggest of the four.

Drivers can opt for one or more days per week and Shaugnessy hopes enough volunteers will step up so the Ocean Shores route can be divided into two. She can be reached at 360-289-2971, through the Facebook page, Green Lantern Lunches, and at their website, www.greenlanternlunches.org.

Margaret and Ed Tegenfeldt, two of the original Green Lantern Lunches volunteers, are ready to deliver the Copalis Beach to Copalis Crossing route. The couple has volunteered in almost all capacities since the program began, and has delivered literally thousands of free lunches to hungry North Coast kids. Scott D. Johnston photo