Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Ben Schmandt directs cars on Pabst Street at the Luther L. Wright K-12 School as families collect 25-pound boxes of fresh produce Wednesday during Ironwood's first distribution event. The district will be holding produce distribution days on Wednesdays throughout the month of June.
Dan Martinson moves a box of produce at the Luther L. Wright K-12 School Wednesday during Ironwood's first distribution event. Ironwood will be holding produce distribution days on Wednesdays throughout the month of June.
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood - The rain did nothing to deter volunteers from distributing 25-pound boxes of fresh produce to families at the Luther L. Wright K-12 School Wednesday.
The district will continue to distribute produce boxes on Wednesdays through the end of June, according to Food Service Director Mary Hampston Kusz.
The district received the delivery of 280 boxes of produce through U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farms to Families program to hand out Wednesday.
Hampston Kusz said families don't need to sign up ahead of time to receive boxes of produce going forward.
"I don't know if they will have different produce every week, or if it's the same produce every week," she said, adding a large part of the effort seems to be helping farmers get rid of the produce they can't ship to stores due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ironwood is the only district in the area participating in the program, according to Hampston Kusz, with the closest other district in the Upper Peninsula being Houghton.
Ironwood's future distribution events are scheduled for 10-11 a.m. every Wednesday through June 24, Hampston Kusz said.
