The Eudora Township Public Library and its partners plan to feed the minds and bellies of community children this summer while instilling in the youngsters the foundations of community service.

Lindsey Sanchez, children’s librarian, said the library’s summer reading program started Monday with the end of the school year. About 200 youngsters have signed up, but Sanchez expects those numbers to soon swell.

“Last year, we had 600 children,” she said. “We’re expecting the same this year.”

The theme for this year’s summer reading is “Build a Better World,” and Sanchez said youngsters will have a chance to join the Build a Better World Club to lend a hand in a number of community projects. Those include a Breakfast for Vets at 9 a.m. Monday at the Lodge on Main, 736 Main St. Other projects include collecting pet food for animal hospitals and shelters and performing random acts of kindness for community businesses.

Kids signing up for the summer reading program will get a bag with a reading log, stickers to mark progress and a program calendar, Sanchez said. Students have until July 20 to complete their age-appropriate goals, she said. Those wanting to learn more about the program may call Sanchez at 785-542-2496 or email her at storytimelindsey@gmail.com.

It was food not books that attracted 83 children Wednesday to the library for the second day of the 13-week Feeding Eudora free lunch for the community’s children, said Jeff Ingle, pastor of the Eudora Baptist Church and member of the Feeding Eudora steering committee.

The program, for people 18 and under, will provide the meals from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the library, Ingle said. He expects more children to take part in the program as word about it spreads.

Planning for the program started in February, and food donated by civic groups and businesses is in place to last the summer, he said. Nonetheless, organizers would happily accept more as take-home food bags for weekends, he said. For information on how to donate, email feedingeudora@gmail.com.

Churches, businesses and civic groups have also volunteered to run the program for a week during its summerlong run, Ingle said.

“Each one is giving a little time to make this work,” he said. “There’s no prerequisite, except the prerequisite that you love kids.”

Two weeks before Thomas the Tank Train makes his annual appearance in Baldwin City, organizers with Midland Railways are scrambling to find the volunteers needed to help run the event. This is the 15th year a full-sized replica of the beloved TV character has visited Midland. This year, Thomas and friend Percy will visit the weekends of June 2-4 and June 9-11.

“We need about 80 volunteers per day,” said Midland event coordinator Jessica Ray. “I don’t have anywhere near that.”

Volunteers perform an array of duties to help maintain the flow and safety of the event, Ray said. Those include acting as car hosts in the train cars giving rides behind Thomas and Percy, operating a bounce house or working ticket booths, she said.

Midland depends on various civic organizations for volunteers to help with the event, offering them compensation packages for contributed time, Ray said.

Midland is now reaching out to other communities besides Baldwin City for civic organizations or church or school groups looking for a fundraiser opportunity.

“I don’t care where they come from,” she said. “We have ample opportunities for those wanting to get involved and help a historic railroad.”

The scarcity of volunteers is threatening the future of the Thomas the Tank Train visits, and that, in turn, could have severe consequences for the historic nonprofit railroad, which runs seasonal excursion trips from Baldwin City to Ottawa. The Thomas visit is Midland’s biggest fundraising event, and the money raised from the two weekends helps cover the railroad’s operational and maintenance costs, Ray said.

“We’re the main tourist attraction in Baldwin,” she said. “It’s tough we don’t get the support we need to keep it alive.”

Ray said those who would like to volunteer for the event may email her a jessicar@midlandrailway.org or call her at 913-449-2553.

Baker University and the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council will offer a walking tour of historic buildings on the school’s Baldwin City campus from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday. The tour will start at the Old Castle Museum, 511 Sixth St., a three-story limestone building. Built in 1856 as the first home of Baker, the oldest university in Kansas, it is now a museum with items from early Kansas, Methodist and Baker history. The tour will then visit other historic buildings on campus, including Osborne Chapel. Originally constructed in Sproxton, England, the chapel was brought stone by stone to the Baker campus and dedicated in 1996 by Margaret Thatcher, whose father once was a pastor at the church.