Central Summer Food Program has delivered nearly 24K meals
The Central Summer Food Program team of Carolyn Campbell, Jennifer Druecker, Lindsey Anderson and Kara Armstrong helped plan, package and deliver nearly 24,000 meals over the eight-week program. (Photos courtesy of Central Community School)
Carolyn Campbell, Lindsey Anderson, Jennifer Druecker and Kara Armstrong get the van ready for delivery. Around 220 students are utilizing the program in Elkader, St. Olaf, Volga and Elkport.
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
“Hunger doesn’t take a vacation,” a Facebook post from Central Community School said back in June, at the start of its new summer food program, which is expected to serve close to 24,000 meals before it comes to an end this week. It’s a number Central Food Service Director and program manager Carolyn Campbell said, “blew me out of the water!”
It’s not that Campbell didn’t believe in the program, it’s just that, with any first-year program, there are tempered expectations. While she was predicting perhaps 100 or so people would sign up when the initial information went out, what actually happened was over 300 signed up to participate.
This greatly underscores the motivating factor behind Central “moving forward with it,” as Central Superintendent Nick Trenkamp stated.
Over half of Central students qualify for free or reduced lunches, a number Trenkamp stated “has almost doubled since Covid.” In Iowa alone, almost 42 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced lunches, demonstrating a “strong need for programs” such as this, Trenkamp believes.
As a result, Trenkamp—along with Kara Armstrong and Allison Walch—was an early supporter and key influence in Central applying and ultimately getting approved for the Summer Meal Program Expansion Grant through the Iowa Department of Education, which received $900,000 to support the enhancement and expansion of summer meal programs in currently underserved and eligible areas. Central was awarded over $50,000 through the program.
There was also a community response through a survey the school sent out that indicated interest in the program. The application was submitted knowing the program wouldn’t go unutilized. Once approved, running the program fell on the shoulders of Campbell, who arrived at Central nine years ago and was excited about the task, especially one for kids, who she likes to see smile, whether they’re walking through the lunch line during the school year or picking up meals over the summer. “Kids learn better when they’re fed,” Campbell said.
But getting them fed over the summer requires some behind the scenes action, like finding a vendor, ordering food, training staff, organizing, packaging and boxing meals up and, of course, delivering them. It also required Campbell and her staff, who traditionally have the entire summer off, to devote time to the program. Campbell has spent two to three days per week since June working to get this program running and making it successful.
The extra work, rather than being a burden, is simply another opportunity for Campbell to see those smiling faces and “how happy it makes the kids.”
Those little things make the rest easier, like planning the menu, which Campbell does following what could only be described as a ponderous nutrition guide. Every breakfast meal includes a grain, fruit or juice and milk, while lunch includes a grain, meat, vegetable, fruit and a milk.
What that looks like on the actual menu is breakfast with a muffin, bagel, waffle or maybe a pop tart kit along with fruit and milk. Depending on the week, kids received a hamburger, corn dog, chicken nuggets and deli sandwiches for lunch, along with vegetables and fruit.
As for kids with special dietary needs, which impacts about 8 percent of children in the United States or about one in 13 children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Campbell shops locally at Wilke’s for items.
However, before food can be delivered, it needs to be separated, organized and packaged, which takes a team. Joining Campbell for the task, which starts on Wednesdays around 7 a.m. and lasts until 3 p.m., are Jennifer Druecker, Lindsey Anderson and Armstrong. The group diligently boxes close to 3,000 meals each week, which has gone “really well,” Campbell said. She is “really amazed at how smooth it’s run.”
Once meals are packaged, boxed and split into the correct sites, the crew delivers meals every Thursday, starting at 7 a.m. and finishing around 2 p.m. All four members pack up the van, while two drive the van to one of three delivery sites outside Elkader, including Volga, St. Olaf and Elkport. Two more remain in Elkader, delivering meals and preparing for the next delivery.
Across all sites, Elkader has about 220 students in the program, while St. Olaf has around 40, Volga 30 and Elkport seven. The entire delivery process takes about 15 minutes, and Campbell estimated close to 95 percent of those signed up for the program showed up to collect their meals.
“I’ve been very pleased with how it’s been and it’s been well received by the community,” Campbell said.
When it comes to the future of the program, Central qualified for three years under the grant, so Campbell anticipates it will return next year. The only change that could happen is its length. This year, it was decided the program would last eight weeks, starting in June and running through July.
According to Campbell, the decision to cap the program at eight weeks was based on a few factors, including not knowing how many people would sign up, as well as August being a busy month. Stopping at the end of July also gives staff a bit of a break before the school year begins later in August.
Since it was the first year, Central wanted to see how it went, and the option to add weeks is available next year.
No matter how many weeks it is, however, one thing will always be true: when it comes to the motivation for the program, it’s about feeding students and helping those in need. And you can’t forget the smiles.
