This year, Kentucky’s Metcalfe and Russell counties, located less than an hour drive from one another in south-central Kentucky, implemented non-congregate summer meals programs for either the very first time, or after a hiatus, with great results. Together they served 186,570 meals to students!
The last time Metcalfe County Schools’ food service director, Beth Miller, ran a non-congregate feeding program was at the height of the COVID pandemic. She and her staff of 20 gleaned learnings from that experience and crafted a new non-congregate program for 2024 based on the current needs of the community and the capabilities of her team. She scrapped the previous 28 meal pick-up sites scattered across 291 square miles for two pick-up sites, which streamlined the process significantly. The team provided an average of 700 per week, totaling 57,667 meals over the summer! To put that in context, last year Metcalfe County Schools served 1,887 breakfasts and 1,975 lunches for the entire school year.
Russell County Schools served as a summer meals sponsor for the first time, serving 128,903 meals at four sites, thanks to their savvy and resourceful director of school nutrition, Jessica Holt, and her team of 25 workers. Food insecurity was the largest issue families in the community were facing according to a needs assessment completed by the district’s Family Resource Youth Services Centers. Holt knew she was in a position to do something about it. “It was scary in the beginning, but it was worth it for sure,” Holt said of starting a new summer non-congregate program. She said the hardest parts were the meal requirements and the review process. However, after a couple of weeks, she and her staff found their groove and saw they made the best decision for their county. Holt said seeing the students in vehicles at pick-up was the best part—their faces would light up once the meal kit was in their hands. “The students couldn’t wait to dig into the boxes and see what they had that week,” she said.
Both summer meals programs operated like well-oiled machines. In both counties, it was a three-day process each week throughout the summer, from getting food inventory to packing bags and finally getting food into the hands of families. Both teams ensured all families who had travel restrictions still received their meals, which usually meant a team member made a special home deliveries to certain families. Each week, families were provided meal kits that contained a variety of fresh, local produce, dry goods, and shelf-stable items, dairy products, and frozen/refrigerated items for 5 and 7 days’ worth of food in Metcalfe and Russell, respectively. Miller communicated details about the program to families via Facebook. She said she was proud there were no complaints, only thank yous. In fact, families hoped the program would last through August, and asked Miller to offer the program again next summer. Holt said they did not get one negative comment from families. Several families posted on Facebook about how grateful they were for the summer meals program, that their kids enjoyed eating the same foods at home that they do at school, and that families saved money by participating in this program. Families also posted about how they incorporated the produce into their meals, such as adding fresh veggies to stews. Holt would tell anyone thinking about implementing a summer non-congregate program to just do it!