Whitfield adjusts summer nutrition program due to pandemic

Published 12:20 pm Wednesday, June 10, 2020

DALTON, Ga. — Whitfield County Schools has made several adjustments to its summer meals program this year due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but the system continues to provide thousands of meals each day to numerous children throughout the county.

It’s important to spread the word about summer meals, because “I think a lot of kids thought (meal service) ended the last day of school,” said Angie Brown, nutrition director for Whitfield County Schools. The department took a week-long break following the end of the school year, but launched the summer program on June 1, serving more than 12,000 meals that opening day.

Summer meals are available free to ages 18 and under, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s summer nutrition program, and the children can receive food at any location, Brown said. Meals are available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, the children receive meals for the following day, as well, including at least one hot meal, Brown said. By offering meal service three days instead of five, the school system saves money on transportation and staffing.

Principals and school counselors are helping the nutrition department identify children in need of summer meals, said Linda Quarles, a member of the nutrition department. “That’s really helped as we try to take care of kids.”

Some of the differences for this summer’s nutrition program are obvious, such as employees wearing masks at all times, while others are more subtle, like less variety with meals, Brown said. In Whitfield County Schools, “we’ve always prided ourselves on variety and hot meals, so not having been able to do that as much has been (disappointing).”

“They’re still quality meals, but the variety isn’t as much,” she said. Brown does hope to begin offering more variety starting in July, like with pizza packages “that look like Lunchables.”

Students used to be able to enter schools and go through a lunch line for summer meals, but now they can only utilize a drive-thru line, “what I call curbside pickup,” and “we may never go back to (summer) serving lines,” Brown said. “This may change the way we do business.”

Typically, nutrition services would also provide meals during various sports camps and other gatherings in the system during the summer, but that’s not the case this year due to those camps being canceled, Quarles said. However, they’ll likely have new participants they didn’t in previous years due to the economic crash that has led to the highest unemployment rate ever in metro Dalton (Whitfield and Murray counties), 20.5%.

Employees now only hand food to the children, rather than offering a personal touch, because of the pandemic, Brown said. “The bus drivers don’t even get off the buses.”

“I like to hug the students, but we can’t do that, now,” due to social distancing, said Sherrie Lovain, a member of the nutrition department. “(The students), especially the young ones, don’t understand why.”

Yet another difference this summer is that children no longer have to be present to receive meals, courtesy of a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a change Brown supports, she said. “Now, a parent, (grandparent, guardian, etc.,) can pick them up.”

Meals are served between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., depending on the site, with buses delivering food to locations in the community during those same hours. A full list of school sites, delivery locales and approximate times is available on the Whitfield County Schools website (https://www.wcsga.net/).

New challenges

Many nutrition employees are at different schools for the summer than they are during the school year, and “each school’s kitchen is a little different,” said Lovain, who typically works at Antioch Elementary but is now at Dug Gap Elementary. “It’s been a challenge to learn that.”

Another hurdle has simply been finding individuals to work in nutrition this summer, Quarles said. “Some are scared, I think,” of COVID-19.

Childcare is also an issue for some potential employees, Brown said. Because day cares and summer camps have been either canceled, delayed or modified, some who might have assisted with the summer meals program have to remain home with their children.

“It’s day-to-day for everybody,” Lovain said. “We’re ready for the new normal.”

“Every day is different,” Brown said with a wry smile. “We’ve all become logistics experts, now.”

Serving the needs of many

Though school buildings closed in mid-March due to the pandemic, Whitfield County Schools continued to provide food for students, and “I’m surprised how many came out for the emergency feeding,” Brown said last week. “Since March 17, we’ve fed 359,000 meals.”

And “some days I feel like I did 350,000 of them,” Quarles said with a laugh, alluding to the long days that nutrition employees like her have worked to continue feeding children during this unprecedented time. “It’s a great program, though, and it really helps.”