Harbor Point Church · Kids Ministry

VBS Food Service

Everything for feeding the kids and volunteers — daytime snacks, nighttime dinner, ordering, and the day-by-day plan. Run by Elaine (taking over from Heather Vataha).

~1,000fed per night
714night kids
357day kids
~300volunteers

⚑ Don't-forget list

  • Church is CLOSED Monday — the big Costco advance order must be delivered the Thursday before. Email Susan ahead of time; the kitchen must be cleared out first.
  • Find coolers to store the adult volunteers' water bottles and keep them cold.
  • Return all UNOPENED boxes to Costco on Thursday or Friday. After Friday, don't return anything — put out everything that's open and tell Susan what's unopened so the church can use it.
  • Kitchen call time: 4:45–5:00pm every night (serve staff/volunteers ~5, program starts 5:30).
  • Watch the Oreos — the kids tend to swipe them.
  • 🎨 Grab some cute decor to dress up the serving area to match the year's theme.
👥

The numbers

Daytime · snacks
357
Red 57Green 44Brown 65Blue 67Yellow 61Purple 63
Nighttime · dinner
714
Red 107Green 121Brown 122Blue 121Yellow 127Purple 116
Plus adult volunteers: ~300 at night and ~50 in the daytime → plan ~1,000+ servings/night. Adults also get Costco salads (night + day). Dinner runs as a rotation: one color group (~110–125 kids) comes to the dinner station every ~15–20 min from 6:05–8:05pm — staggered, not all at once.
📦

Ordering & sourcing

Subway
Footlong subs, pick up (Monday, San Juan). Cut each footlong into 4 → a 3-inch sandwich per kid (order extra so ~150 older kids can grab a second). Adult volunteers get two 3-inch sandwiches each. Ask Subway to include mayo & mustard packets.
Costco Pizza
Cheese for the kids, pepperoni for the adults — pick up same day (Tuesday). Ask Costco to pre-cut the slices when you order.
Chick-fil-A
Nuggets for the kids + Chick-fil-A sandwiches for the adult volunteers — San Juan, delivered day-of in 3 waves (Wednesday). Meet them out front.
Ricardo's
Chicken taquitos — 2 per kid, delivered day-of (Thursday, San Juan). Adults get mini chicken burritos. Ask Ricardo's about individual salsa cups to hand out to the kids. Return hot boxes to Ricardo's on Friday.
Friday grill
Men's ministry grills the last night (needs 8–10 guys). Sliders — mini cheeseburgers on King's Hawaiian rolls (locked in). Patties/rolls/cheese are in the Costco order.
Smart & Final
Ketchup & mustard packets.
Costco — sides (bulk)
ALL the sides are bulk-ordered from Costco (chips, cookies, snacks, water, paper goods) — see the ordering timeline below.
Costco — salads
Salads for the adult volunteers (~300 night + ~50 day) — bought fresh each morning.
Costco — daily fresh
Salads, fresh fruit (oranges, bananas, apples for the kids), ice (4 big bags/day), water — picked up every morning.
Amazon
Decorations (to match the year's theme) and tablecloths — order online ahead of time.
📋

The full order list

Built from these counts — to update for 2027, just change these four numbers and re-scale:
357 day kids · 714 night kids · +50 day volunteers · +300 night volunteers · 5 days
Servings below already include a ~10% buffer. Pack counts are estimates based on typical Costco sizes — verify against the actual products and round up. Kid sides = day + night where an item is on both; salads are for adults.

A Costco — bulk, order the week before

ItemDaysServingsEst. packs*
Cheez-Its (snack packs)Mon d+n~1,180~26 boxes
Rice Krispy TreatsMon d+n~1,180~20 boxes
Mini beef sticksMon day~400~14 boxes
Granola barsTue day~400~9 boxes
Goldfish (snack bags)Tue d+n~1,180~26 boxes
Fruit SnacksTue d+n~1,180~15 boxes
String cheese (fridge)Wed day~400~9 bags
Pringles (snack stacks)Wed d+n~1,180~33 boxes
Chocolate chip cookiesWed d+n~1,180~1,200 cookies
Pirate's BootyThu day~400~17 boxes
YoggiesThu day~400~14 boxes
Oreos (snack packs) ⚠ kids swipe theseThu d+n~1,180~40 boxes
Fritos (single-serve)Thu night~790~16 boxes
Veggie StrawsFri day~400~17 boxes
Applesauce pouchesFri day~400~13 boxes
Fruit by the FootFri d+n~1,180~25 boxes
Assorted chips (variety)Fri night~790~15 boxes
Bottled waterall weekbase stock~40 cases + daily top-up
Ketchup + mustard packets (Smart & Final)Mon + Frisubs+sliders~2,000 each
Small cups — kids' water (JH fill from pitchers)all week~4,000714 kids × 5 nights + spares (~7 sleeves)
Paper goods — plates, napkins, forksall week~1,500/daybulk sleeves ×5 days

B Costco — fresh, every morning (all 5 days)

ItemForPer day
Salads (kits) — vary the type across the week: Mediterranean, Mexican, Italian, Caesaradult volunteers (~300 night + ~50 day)~50 kits/day
Orangeskids (offered/added to baskets)300/day
Appleskids (offered/added to baskets)300/day
Bananaskids (offered/added to baskets)100/day
Icecoolers + water4 big bags/day
Watertop-up on the base stockas needed

C Day-of vendor mains (book ~2 weeks ahead)

DayMain / sourceEst. quantity
MonFootlong subs — Subway, San Juan (pickup). Cut into 4 (3″ each)~366 footlongs (714 kids ×1 + 150 seconds + 300 adults ×2 = 1,464 pieces ÷ 4)
TuePizza — Costco (same-day pickup, pre-cut). Cheese for kids, pepperoni for adults~60 cheese (714 kids ÷ 12) + ~50 pepperoni (300 adults ×2 ÷ 12) ≈ 110 total
WedNuggets (kids) + sandwiches (adults) — Chick-fil-A (delivered, 3 waves)~3,500–4,000 nuggets + ~300 sandwiches
ThuChicken taquitos (2/kid) + adult mini chicken burritos — Ricardo's (delivered)~1,428 taquitos + ~300 mini burritos + salsa cups (ask)
FriSliders — men's ministry grillsee grill list below

D Friday grill — sliders locked in

ItemServingsEst. packs*
Frozen slider patties~1,314 (714 kids ×1 + 300 adults ×2)~37 bags (~36-ct) — verify pack size
King's Hawaiian Original Sweet Rolls (the mini buns)~1,314~41 twin-packs (32-ct ea.)
American cheese slices~1,314~11 packs (~120-ct)
Ketchup/mustard/pickles—from Smart & Final order
✅ Costco carries the King's Hawaiian rolls in a 32-count twin pack (~$6–7) — widely stocked. Confirm 8–10 grillers.

E Equipment & supplies

  • Baskets — the church owns them; stored in the kitchen above the cabinets. (3 sets of group numbers.)
  • Coolers to store the adult volunteers' water bottles (keep cold), ice chests, the church's water pitchers, and the big orange jugs.
  • Canva number signs for the groups; name tags printed each night (write JH group #s on them).
* Servings are solid (based on the headcounts); pack counts are estimates to confirm against the real Costco products — round up rather than down.
📆

Ordering timeline — when to do what

~2 weeks out — lock the vendor orders

  • Subway — schedule Monday sub pickup (San Juan)
  • Costco pizza — confirm the Tuesday same-day pickup
  • Chick-fil-A — book the Wednesday catering (3 delivery waves)
  • Ricardo's — book the Thursday burrito delivery (+ adult chicken burritos, per-group salsa)
  • Friday grill — confirm the men's ministry + 8–10 grillers; decide sliders vs. dogs

The week before — the big Costco bulk order

Church is closed Monday → have it delivered the Thursday before. Email Susan; the kitchen must be cleared out first.
  • All the shelf-stable sides & snacks (bulk): Cheez-Its · Goldfish · Pringles · Fritos · assorted chips · Veggie Straws · Pirate's Booty · Rice Krispy Treats · Fruit Snacks · Chocolate Chip Cookies · Oreos · Fruit by the Foot · Yoggies · granola bars · mini beef sticks · applesauce pouches
  • Bulk water + paper goods (plates, napkins, cups, utensils) + ketchup/mustard (Smart & Final)
  • If Friday = sliders: slider patties + buns + cheese (freezer/fridge space permitting) — otherwise grab Friday morning

Every morning of VBS (all 5 days) — the fresh run

  • Salads (adult volunteers — ~300 night + ~50 day)
  • Fresh fruit for the kids: oranges, bananas, apples
  • Ice (4 big bags) + water top-up
  • Do water + ice in the morning; stage on the back table
  • Return yesterday's unopened boxes to Costco on the same run
  • Friday only: grab slider supplies (patties, King's Hawaiian rolls, cheese) if not pre-ordered
🧺

Kitchen setup & baskets

🗓️ Do this setup on Sunday, the day before VBS starts.
  • Prepare signs with the schedule (day/night), menu (day/night), and group counts (day/night).
  • Baskets: the church owns them — stored in the kitchen above the cabinets. (3 sets of group numbers.)
  • Number signs: make them in Canva for the groups. Zip-tie a sign to the lawn area for each group.
  • Name tags printed for volunteers each night — write each JH's group number on their name tag so they know their group.
  • Separate day supplies vs. night supplies; stage what goes on the back table at the start of each night.
  • Set up any decorations and prepare the back tables for volunteer meals, the fruit table, and the water table. Pull out the orange water jugs too.
🙋

Serving roles & flow

Basket prep (3–4 adults per shift)
Where most of the adult volunteers serve. Assemble and refill each group's food basket in the kitchen so the JH can run them out — fast-paced, resetting between rotations.
JH volunteers (waiters)
Each assigned a group number Monday, kept all week. Deliver the food basket, walk around with a church pitcher filling the kids' cups, and clean the area between rotations.
Water duty (1 adult)
Runs the water all night: keep the big orange jugs (the water supply) filled, refill the JH pitchers whenever they run low, and keep the adult volunteers' water bottles stocked in the coolers (~20 cases, kept cold). The kids drink from cups the JH fill from the pitchers.
Fruit duty (1 mom)
Walk around offering fruit, or add it to the baskets.
Preschool warm tray
Delivered 6:00–6:15; get numbers from admin. Anything that doesn't need hot/cold (chips, dessert) can be delivered early.
🗓️

Day-by-day operations

Monday church closed

Subway footlongs (pickup, San Juan) — cut each into 4 (a 3-inch sandwich per kid); order extra so ~150 older kids can get a second. No delivery today — the advance Costco order came the Thursday before.

Tuesday

Costco pizza (pickup) — cheese for kids, pepperoni for adults; ask Costco to pre-cut the slices when ordering.

Wednesday

Chick-fil-A — nuggets for the kids, sandwiches for the adult volunteers. Comes in 3 deliveries; meet them out front.

Thursday

Ricardo's — chicken taquitos, 2 per kid (delivered); adults get mini chicken burritos. 📝 To-do: ask Ricardo's about individual salsa cups we can hand out to the kids. Watch the Oreos. Start returning unopened Costco boxes.

Friday last night

Grill night — the men's ministry cooks (needs 8–10 guys).
✅ Mini cheeseburger sliders on King's Hawaiian rolls — LOCKED IN. Men grill the patties; assemble mini cheeseburgers (patty + cheese + King's Hawaiian roll) into the group baskets. Fast for the 15-min rotation. Patties, rolls, and cheese are all on the Costco order list.
Also Friday: put out everything that's open; don't return anything after today. Tell Susan what's unopened for the church. Return Ricardo's hot boxes. Grab grill supplies + buns in the morning if not pre-ordered.
🧹

End-of-night cleanup

  • Dump the ice chest
  • Ask a JH to do a final sweep for trash
  • Reset the back table for tomorrow
  • 🍬 Give the junior highers their candy
  • Put out any leftover main-course food on the table out front of the church
  • Set aside any unopened boxes to return to Costco on tomorrow's morning run
📇

People & next-year ideas

  • 📝 Ricardo's — ask about individual salsa cups we can hand out to the kids on taquito night (Thursday).
  • Susan (church) — email re: kitchen cleared out for the Thursday delivery, and unopened items the church can keep.
  • Elise — ask her to move the younger groups to earlier in the night.