DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

Warren County Public Schools had anticipated distributing around 72,000 to-go meals to children through its new eight-week summer program – but just three weeks in, kids had claimed 89,000.

WCPS, through the Sun Meals To-Go program, has served six days’ worth of packaged breakfast and lunch weekly to anyone 18 and under at each of five school sites classified as rural with the USDA.

Once a week at each site, sometimes more than 100 cars, directed by cones and bus loops, form a drive-thru line to receive meals at one or two blue tents. Fifty to 60 WCPS Nutrition and Dining staff who normally take summers off work to serve 32,000 meals a week at these sites, as Purity Dairy supplies fresh-quality milk through an 18-wheeler semi also on site.

“They have hearts of gold to be able to come in and do this work, knowing how important it is for our community,” WCPS Director of Nutrition and Dining Kelly Holt said about the staff.

“The need is there.”

Anyone 18 or under can claim a meal package once a week while WCPS keeps track.

WCPS spread out the sites – Alvaton Elementary, North Warren Elementary, Warren East Middle, South Warren Middle and Cumberland Trace Elementary – so residents districtwide could participate, Holt said.

A week in, when WCPS realized the program’s participation had far surpassed what was projected, it followed up with vendors, Holt said. The program operated for three weeks before taking a one-week pause so vendors could acquire and supply the food needed. Meal pick-ups resumed July 7, WCPS has stated.

One in five children across a 42-county Kentucky region that includes Warren County, which is known by Feeding America as Kentucky’s Heartland, faced food insecurity in 2022 – with Warren County having the fourth-most food-insecure children, according to a June 2024 Feeding American Kentucky’s Heartland report. A recent family and caregiver survey in Kentucky found that 94.1% of rural families statewide reported more grocery spending over summer when school is out, according to the No Kid Hungry campaign.

Sun Meals To-Go is one of multiple “Sun Meals” summer programs operated by the WCPS Nutrition and Dining Department in partnership with the USDA, Holt said. As such, the new to-go program is mainly funded by the USDA, while an additional $15,000 grant, from the No Kid Hungry Kentucky coalition, has covered important expenses to help get the program off the ground, including marketing, pop-up tents to protect staff and food from heat, and hazard cones, Holt said.

“Summer meals are a lifeline for kids and families who rely on school meals throughout the school year,” stated John Cain, Program Director for Kentucky Kids Eat, Feeding Kentucky’s childhood hunger relief program, who also manages the No Kid Hungry Kentucky campaign.

“We know that children that don’t have access to food (…) really suffer from an educational standpoint, they suffer from a health standpoint, and it’s really a workforce development issue in Kentucky,” Cain said. “Making sure kids have enough to eat every day of the year is a strategy to make sure kids reach their full potential and ensure that Kentucky has a workforce ready to meet the demands in the future.”

At the pick-up sites, some families, given the opportunity, have written kind notes to the staff, Holt said. He recalled multiple describing the staff’s work as making a difference for families who otherwise wouldn’t be sure how to afford feeding their children over the summer, he said.

“Nutrtion is needed 12 months a year, and we’re proud and glad that we’re able to run this program and provide that great nutrition for our community,” he said.

WCPS stated that its remaining meal pickups are at:

• Warren East Middle, 9:30-11 a.m., July 15, 22

• South Warren Middle, 12-2 p.m., July 15, 22

• Cumberland Trace Elementary, 3-5 p.m., July 15, 22.

• Alvaton Elementary: 10-11:30 a.m., July 21

• North Warren Elementary: 12:15-2 p.m., July 21