When schools closed, many students’ access to steady food supply was cut off. During the past weeks, administration has developed a plan to provide for students in need.

“Our goal is to operate a safe program as long as we can and serve as many students as possible, the best meal possible,” Executive Director of District Services Paula Murrish said.

Murrish and the supervisor of food services, Lindsay Morgan, used the resources from the Summer Food Program to deliver meals to students. They began distributing food on March 17 and served 4,793 meals in the first week, of which 1,664 were delivered, according to Julie Boyle.

Despite the quick planning done by Murrish and Morgan, there were still several obstacles in the preparation process.

“There were so many unknowns,” Murrish said. “Program regulations had to all be in place before we served our first grab and go meal.”

Other challenges included food availability, safety regulations, CDC guidelines and training for volunteers. The most important regulation to the staff was safety.

“[It is challenging] keeping up to date with the ever changing knowledge to make certain we are being as safe as possible,” Murrish said.

Some teachers in the district have volunteered to help out. Cordley Elementary third grade teacher Veronica Decker has assisted in delivering food to students.

“Some family members would wave and shout “Thank You!” from the front porch,” said Decker. “It was so nice to see some kids smile and wave”

Dr. Anthony Lewis has also assisted the many volunteers in delivering food to students. In a recent interview with Lewis, he spoke out about the responsibility the district has taken on helping students during this time.

“This is just a time for us to really come together as a community and meet the needs of first and foremost our students, but also our staff and families as well,” Lewis said.