In the heart of Appalachia Ohio, Meigs Local Schools has been a beacon of summer meals support for an entire region for years. The school district has partnered with advocates, community organizations and other school districts, who didn’t offer summer meals, to ensure all children had access to meals when the school was out. Led by Chrissy Musser, the school’s Nutrition Director, she and her team have been dedicated to expanding access to all nutrition programs year round.
Over the last few years, the school district has been able to utilize the new non-congregate option, to allow for families to pick-up multiple days’ worth of meals in one distribution. Since students don’t have to consume meals on site, the new non-congregate option has reduced many barriers that families in this rural community face to accessing traditional summer meals programs. Located in the heart of Meigs County, nestled along the West Virginia border, transportation and distance have been significant barriers to all children having access to these critical meals during the summer.
This summer, the district hosted one non-congregate site at Meigs Elementary School on Wednesdays. During this distribution, families could pick-up 7 days’ worth of breakfast and lunch each week.
With a staff of 50 people working to ensure meals were assembled, packed and distributed, Chrissy and her team hand out nearly 23,000 meals each week. Chrissy’s summer staff comprises folx from all sectors of the school district – from administrators, teachers, aides, bus drivers, and cooks, it would be impossible without everyone. “They come together to make it happen, and I think it’s beautiful,” she shared.
Not only is it beautiful, but it’s also effective. The district served just over 200,000 meals in summer 2023 and they’re on track to increase for summer 2024. With this reach, they are serving not only their community but also several that come from the surrounding counties to pick-up meals weekly. The response the first few weeks of their program led them to extending their pick-up window in order to accommodate everyone.
In addition to her non-congregate summer meals program, Chrissy also still serves community sites for children that wish to participate in lunch eaten on site at four different site locations. This partnership with the local library system allows for meals to continue to be provided in a community space where children already congregate during the summer months.
No matter the venue, Chrissy and her team of superstars prove that summer meals have the ability to reach everyone. Her continued non-stop efforts are a testament to the dedication and impact she and her department have made on Meigs County.