Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Suzette Pertile, left, a food service employee with the Hurley School District, smiles as Crystal Benton, of Hurley, picks up her summer breakfast and lunch program meals Friday that were prepared by the staff for her two children and a friend who can't pick up her own.
By TOM LAVENTURE
Hurley - The food service staff at Hurley K-12 School say the breakfast and lunch program for kids since the pandemic shutdown and continuing through summer could be described as a labor of love.
The school district offers free breakfast and free lunch to all students 18 and younger weekdays and on weekends. Parents pick up the food at the school or at 10 scheduled delivery points throughout the area.
"We miss our kids, that's the biggest thing," said Dawn Rye, food service director for Hurley School District. "In the beginning it was very emotional because we didn't get to see our kids when we were used to seeing them every day. We didn't get to say 'have a good summer.' But it's also been nice getting to know a lot of the parents a little more personally."
The program started with around 2,000 meals a week and has grown to 3,000, Rye said. Parents are saying the program gives their students some comfort with a school food routine and they enjoy getting the same foods they are familiar with at school.
Some of the families were wondering if the program would end with the conclusion of the school year, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would support the program through Aug. 31.
That goes a long way with supporting people who were or still are unemployed or underemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rye said.
"You've got families that come through that have four or five kids and that helps out a lot," Rye said. "That's a lot of milk; that's a lot of juices and fruits and stuff. I've had a lot of moms say they are very thankful about us helping to feed their kids."
It's good outreach for the school and helps to offer some normalcy for students with all the changes in their lives from everything going on right now in the nation and the world, she said. The delivery drivers return with thank you cards, roses, gift cards and candy gifts every day, she said.
"We didn't expect anything but people are thanking us and saying how helpful it has been," Rye said. "We do it because we love the kids but it is rewarding to know that it is beneficial to the families and the students."
Crystal Benton, of Hurley, stopped by Friday to pick up a weekend's worth of meals for her two children. She also picks up meals for a friend who works at home.
"She can't get away to pick up at lunch time so I pick it up for her," Benton said.
Suzette Pertile, a school food service employee, said she enjoys greeting the parents who come to the school for meal pickup. She places the boxes on a table for the parents to take so there is no physical contact.
"I enjoy this," Pertile said. "I'm a customer service person."
The kids enjoy the variety of foods, she said.
The breakfasts include cold cereals, yogurts, mini pancakes, waffles and bagels. The lunches are simple but include various sandwiches and hamburgers. The kids get more of their favorites on the weekends to just heat up and serve such as personal pan pizzas, bosco sticks with sauce, and macaroni and cheese.
"I think the kids really like that," Pertile said. "They don't want the same things."
There was no meal plan in place when the school was closed in March, Rye said. She put her 20 years of experience that includes emergency feeding programs to devise a plan for kitchen staff. She got the staff and kitchen ready, the delivery drivers in place and worked with the school administration on locating drop off points and the outreach to let people know of the opportunity.
"When this came to be I knew exactly what I needed to do and had to do it to put it in place," Rye said. "I'm very blessed to have the team that we have."
Rye keeps a daily record of all meals made, how many go out, how many are delivered and how many return to the school. It's helped to make projections for each day of the week so that the preparation matches the need.
"I've got a pretty good system and it's been going pretty good," Rye said. "We plan to keep doing it until DPI (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction) says different."
Rye is now attending video conference meetings with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and child nutrition organizations. She is watching for updates daily to plan for any changes in how school kitchens will run this fall and what will happen if the school remains in a distance learning status.
"It's amazing how organized, efficient, and excited the kitchen staff have been while helping out so many students and families," said Kevin Genisot, school district administrator. "By collaboratively working together, we believe we have made a very challenging situation a little easier for many families and also helped to create a little normalcy for students by offering a consistent pickup routine. For many, it's a highlight of the day to see the smiling face of a driver while at the same time receiving some delicious food. We want to ensure that carries forward for three more months."
Contact the school district with questions about the weekday and weekend meal service at 715-716-4290 and visit hurley.k12.wi.us.
